DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/AEHN-DT73
Defense Date
2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Clint McCown
Second Advisor
Katy Resch
Third Advisor
Ross Collin
Abstract
In 2010, fourteen year-olds Miles and Sam meet at summer camp, and in their two week stay, they spend it falling for each other. They create a bond more special than Miles could ever imagine, sweeping from place to place throughout camp. So after Sam drowns one night in the lake, Miles experiences a sense of despair that tears him apart—figuratively and literally. How does one overcome the death of a boy they once loved? That is a question Miles tries to answer almost a decade later—by returning to the place where it all happened.
Miles Towards Paradise and Death uses a road trip to explore themes such as community, poverty, race, sexuality, and the longstanding effects of grief. All of this equates to Miles taking himself and two drifters, Zoe and Wyatt, along with their pit bull, Skip, on an adventure he could only imagine—whether it’s for better or for worse is something very much up for debate. These are the first seven chapters of that adventure.
Rights
© 2022 Justin Tafios Wafawanaka
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
4-26-2022