Common ground

Organized by a narrative impulse, this thesis explores the universal aspects of human existence by focusing on the cycles of life and death and through relating memory, change and survival to these larger themes. The natural imagery of water or storms, seasonal cycles, lunar cycles, human physical cycles, animals and gardens recur throughout the manuscript and act as metaphors by which insights into the relationship between beauty and death, memory and survival are reached. Other equally important aspects of this work include its multiple views of human relationships from communication breakdown between parents and children to the individual's acceptance of the self.