William James Cobb, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Xiaoye You, Honors Advisor
Keywords:
The Nobody of the Planet Fiction Short Story Collection Thesis
Abstract:
This collection of short stories explores the theme of what it means to be "wanted" as a
woman. These stories offer a variety of feminine perspectives, including narratives told through
the eyes of male protagonists. Each story serves to complicate the narrative by spanning race and
age considerations. In the end, the question of "how does being a product of a gender driven
society influence the story that women are able to tell" is answered through a series of
complicated and sometimes perplexing narratives that blur the lines between poetry and prose.
All of these stories are imbued with tones of loneliness and desire. This desire exists as its own
entity that transmutes over the course of the collection. The act of being a woman is called into
question by the very need for validation separate from love.
