Casting Withers and Other Stories

Abstract

This collection of four personal essays centers on the author's childhood on a dairy farm Issues of discussion include family dynamics that emerge as a result of a move from a stable, middle-class, manicured lawn environment to an unstable, dilapidated, environment. Also discussed are issues of environment and man's relationship with his environment, including but not exclusive to: environment as property, environment as commodity, environment as social obligation, environment as history/ past, environment as teacher. As a collection, it is the author's intent to piece together the entire picture of both time and landscape. The author intends to formulate this entire picture through the use of each individual text as a piece of the setting, in reference to both time and landscape, without an obvious amount of overlap between the texts. Through this focus on creating a complete narrative through separately indulged pieces of time and landscape, the author aims to emphasize the important of environment's role as a character in the personal narrative.