"Chunky": An Exploration Of Scarring And Social Wounds
No Thumbnail Available
Links to Files
Permanent Link
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2011
Department
English and Languages
Program
Master of Arts
Citation of Original Publication
Rights
This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
Abstract
This thesis presents the first fourteen chapters of the author's novel, "Chunky," and examines it in comparison to Martha Southgate's Fall of Rome (2002). Both novels explore the journey of young black males who are trying to survive in a world where they are different. Southgate's Rashid Bryson leaves behind his parents when he gets a scholarship to attend an elite boys' boarding school, where most of his classmates are white and wealthy. DeShaun ‘Chunky’ Gaynor stifles his academic ambition to be accepted into an older crowd and win a girl's affection. Both Rashid and Chunky suffer from scars that prevent them from reaching their full potential. The introduction will explore these characters, the writers' approaches to black masculinity, and contemporary concepts regarding black male identity and healing. The wounded characters in "Chunky" seek solace in each other, in Fall of Rome, the characters are repelled by one another's scars.