University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2015 Lightning Flowers Nickalus Rupert University of Central Florida Part of the Creative Writing Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Rupert, Nickalus, "Lightning Flowers" (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1494. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1494 LIGHTNING FLOWERS by NICKALUS RUPERT B.A. University of West Florida, 2004 M.A. University of West Florida, 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of English in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2015 © 2015 Nickalus Rupert ii ABSTRACT Lightning Flowers traces the psychological collapse of Waylan Dranger, an East Texas construction worker / folk artist. Waylan suffers from hallucinatory encounters with Reeve, his missing brother. Reeve often blames Waylan for his disappearance and implied death. Waylan also worries that Sam, his live-in girlfriend, will leave him before he can resolve his own increasingly erratic behavior. Largely, Lightning Flowers is preoccupied with the consequences of nostalgic thinking. Among others, the novel grapples with the following questions: What defines contemporary notions of “brotherhood”? To what extent does one’s survival necessitate self-delusion? How do social stigmas inform our experience of mental illness? iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I acknowledge the following kind souls: Darlin’ Neal, thanks so much for putting up with my proverbial (and literal) brainfish and for helping me tame this wild beast of a project. Susan Hubbard, thanks for inspiring me with your undogmatic, punk rock approach to the discipline. Jamie Poissant, thanks for sharing your masterful understanding of how fiction works. Thanks, also, to my MFA cohort: Lou Mindar, self-appointed mayor of Colbourn Hall; Eric Fershtman, resident smart guy with a neon heart; Madison Bernath, the woman, the myth, the legend; Sean Ironman, emperor of all things Redivider; Jeff Schuster, brainfish connoisseur; Allie Pinkerton, official memoirist of The Rapture; and Dianne Turgeon Richardson, bandleader extraordinaire. And thanks to so many other MFA partners in crime! iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................. 42 CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 8 ................................................................................................................................. 60 CHAPTER 9 ................................................................................................................................. 65 CHAPTER 10 ............................................................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER 11 ............................................................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER 12 ............................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 13 ............................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 14 ............................................................................................................................. 104 CHAPTER 15 ............................................................................................................................. 108 CHAPTER 16 ............................................................................................................................. 109 CHAPTER 17 ............................................................................................................................. 121 CHAPTER 18 ............................................................................................................................. 126 CHAPTER 19 ............................................................................................................................. 135 CHAPTER 20 ............................................................................................................................. 136 CHAPTER 21 ............................................................................................................................. 146 CHAPTER 22 ............................................................................................................................. 155 v CHAPTER 23 ............................................................................................................................. 163 CHAPTER 24 ............................................................................................................................. 169 CHAPTER 25 ............................................................................................................................. 181 CHAPTER 26 ............................................................................................................................. 183 CHAPTER 27 ............................................................................................................................. 189 CHAPTER 28 ............................................................................................................................. 199 CHAPTER 29 ............................................................................................................................. 206 CHAPTER 30 ............................................................................................................................. 209 CHAPTER 31 ............................................................................................................................. 216 CHAPTER 32 ............................................................................................................................. 220 CHAPTER 33 ............................................................................................................................. 223 CHAPTER 34 ............................................................................................................................. 226 CHAPTER 35 ............................................................................................................................. 234 CHAPTER 36 ............................................................................................................................. 249 CHAPTER 37 ............................................................................................................................. 252 CHAPTER 38 ............................................................................................................................. 256 CHAPTER 39 ............................................................................................................................. 262 CHAPTER 40 ............................................................................................................................. 266 CHAPTER 41 ............................................................................................................................. 268 CHAPTER 42 ............................................................................................................................. 272 CHAPTER 43 ............................................................................................................................. 273 CHAPTER 44 ............................................................................................................................. 280 CHAPTER 45 ............................................................................................................................. 291 vi CHAPTER 46 ............................................................................................................................. 294 CHAPTER 47 ............................................................................................................................. 301 CHAPTER 48 ............................................................................................................................. 303 CHAPTER 49 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