University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations April 2021 Orphans Ryan Burden University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Fiction Commons Recommended Citation Burden, Ryan, "Orphans" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 2649. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2649 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ORPHANS A NOVEL by Ryan Burden A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2021 ABSTRACT ORPHANS by Ryan Burden The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2021 Under the Supervision of Professor Liam Callanan This novel explores the ways in which our concepts of children and family shape our larger perceptions of reality, and vice-versa. It tells the story of a family in rural, upstate New York, using three different perspectives: Grace (the head of household), Eve (her foster child), and Bo, a recent addition to the family. Eve has lived with Grace since childhood, while Bo was taken in after attempting to escape from a rehabilitation camp for boys. Over the course of two days, the children try to manage their own internal conflicts, while Grace does her best to help them. The entire plot is covered in the first of three sections: “Grace.” The following sections: “Eve” and “Bo,” repeat this plotline from their own perspectives.