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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library 2001 An Angel's Promise Gerald Hilaire Touchette Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Touchette, Gerald Hilaire, "An Angel's Promise" (2001). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 44. http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/44 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. AN ANGEL'S PROMISE BY Gerald Hilaire Touchette B.A. Roger Williams College, 1992 1 A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements..- for the Degree of Master of Arts (in English) The Graduate School The University of Maine December, 2001 Advisory Committee: Welch D. Everman, Associate Professor of English; Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Advisor Constance C. Hunting, Professor of English Ulrich Wicks, Chairperson and Professor of English LIBRARY RIGHTS STATEMENT In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Maine, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for Yair use" copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Librarian. It is understood that any copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signature JHT- AN ANGEL'S PROMISE By Gerald Hilaire Touchette Thesis Advisor: Dr. Welch Everman An Abstract of the Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (in English) December, 2001 Castle Deuclet, the protagonist of this work of fiction, has a dream which may or maymot set off or b2 connected to a series of events that happen afte'wards. Castle is thrust into a world of the fantastic where beings calling themselves angels want to help him; where he encounters a unicorn, named Julia, that he knew as a child; where a scarecrow woman reveals herself in his dreams and tells him that she is a dooway he must go through but that first he has to find the key. Here, Castle must face and accept the dark parts of himself: his shadow-self and child shadow-self. He must confront the Dark Man, a mysterious and evil figure that he is somehow inextricably linked to, and the people in Castle's life that the Dark Man remits with his evil touch. Before he faces the Dark Man, Castle is shown his power and the magnitude of his power by his two angels and his unicorn. Castle is taken through a factory by one of his angels revealing many things to Castle. Castle accepts his shadow-selves. In the final confrontation, Castle defeats the Dark Man but not before receiving a wound in his thigh, Castle, then, realizing how much he had lost in his life--things he cannot remember-leaves on a journey to re-learn all that he can. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface............................................................................................................................ 1 CASTLE DEUCLET DREAMED.................................................................................... 10 A Sacrifice ..................................................................................................................... 12 I An Angel's Birth............................................................................................................. 14 Reel World..................................................................................................................... 18 Pieces and Parts........................................................................................................... 23 An Angel's Protection.................................................................................................... 27 A Castle in Stone: Rain.................................................................................................. 30 An Angel's Kiss............................................................................................................. -32 A Castle in Stone: Spaces and Cracks.......................................................................... 35 Angel Speak .................................................................................................................-37 Tea And Alicorns ........................................................................................................... 41 Angel Sleep.................................................................................................................. -51 Faith Vale ...................................................................................................................... 57 Faith Lost. Memories Recaptured.................................................................................. 60 Angel on a Bridge.......................................................................................................... 66 Triangle and Crosses ....................................................................................................70 Lock and Key ................................................................................................................-72 Through a Doorway ....................................................................................................... 75 Maps and Curtains........................................................................................................ 77 Through a Curtain.......................................................................................................... 81 Parts and Pieces........................................................................................................... 82 Dark Castle .................................................................................................................... 89 Blind .............................................................................................................................. 91 Dark-Stained................................................................................................................. 93 Gathering Knoll.............................................................................................................. 96 Spirals and Circles ............................i ..........................................................................100 Navel Gazing............................................................................................................... 101 Seduction and Healing................................................................................................. 103 Steady and Moving...................................................................................................... 106 Dreams of Curtains...................................................................................................... 108 Map of Silver ...............................................................................................................109 Silver Path............................................................................................................... 110 Swords. Shadow and Snow .......................................................................................12 Tea and Immortality..................................................................................................... 123 CASTLE DEUCLET DREAMED.................................................................................. 126 Quests and Journeys ...................................................................................................127 Biography .................................................................................................................... 130 PREFACE When I started writing "An Angel's Promise" I intentionally began without a structure or form, with only a bare minimum of plot, and with only a few of the characters defined in any sort of way. I did this hoping to allow the story and characters to unfold in their own way and in their own time. In other words, to let the story of Castle and his angels grow on its own, from my subconscious more than my conscious. I felt by doing this I could give the story a greater depth and . texture than if I had worked out its themes and plot point by point. However, I do know that every story needs at least a bare minimum of structure, form and plot. So I decided to choose one form of story and one theme to guide myself by. The story form is the quest story and the theme is the theme of self and shadow self. Quest Story My influences for the quest story, in regards to "An Angel's Promise," are Sir Gawain and the G~enKnight, Perceval, The Odyssey, and even Ulysses by James Joyce. In these stories the heroes are thrust on a journey, most of the time against their will, and learn many things about themselves and the world they live in. Beyond these classic quest stories I also used the form of the more contemporary epic quest starting with J.R.R. Tolkien up to authors such as Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Judith Tam, A.A. Attanasio, and Stephen King. All works, especially quest stories, are episodic in some degree or another. The episodes are experiences that the heroes, usually young men, always naive in one way or another, encounter on their journeys. They move from one situation, solve it, learn about themselves and the world, and' move on to another situation. I wanted to use

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