Kilkelly's heroes : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

The stories in this collection have been spinning about in my mind over the past year. Joyce, Robinson, Twain, and others have influenced me as I have sought to bring to life this group of fourth graders. My desire was to create a collection in which all the characters belonged to the same little world and to create a group of characters stronger than any one individual among them. To do so, I decided to write in such a way that each story becomes more than just a chapter in a book, that each story, while lending weight to the overall theme of the collection, might be able to stand alone with its own theme. I have put them in the order that seems most logical, though I imagine they might be shuffled endlessly, except for the last story, and still achieve the same effect.With this collection I hope I am able to convey my belief that no one is without spiritual free will, regardless of environment or background. I have desired that these stories be witness to my own faith that Jesus Christ is Savior of all those that seek Him by creating a group of characters confronted with a wide range of hardship, always empowered by their own privilege of choice, given the option to wander in confusion or to emerge from that confusion by way of the only Way, Truth, and Life. In so doing, I pray the reader will have found this same hope upon turning the final page.Of course, this work remains in progress. While I have written five stories to satisfy the requirements of an honors thesis, many others, focusing on even more of the children found in Mrs. Kilkelly's Griffin Elementary fourth grade classroom, remain spinning about in my mind. Someday, Lord willing, these stories too, will find their way through my pen and onto paper.