Giving Form to Spectral Ideas: On Writing the Novella The Looming Giant

The following thesis consists of a novella, The Looming Giant, and an accompanying expository essay, detailing individual elements of the novella and the intent behind each one. The novella is just under 26,000 words and the exposition is just over 6,000 words. The novella is a deconstructive fantasy story, which takes place in a world unlike our own, in which the ocean is made of a thick veil of clouds and people live on islands that float in the air. The story follows Eliza as she undertakes a quest to uncover great treasure in the heart of a den of dragons. She is beset on this journey by a mysterious giant that torments her and ultimately drives her away from the quest entirely, leading to a downwards spiral that culminates in her death. Throughout the journey, allusions towards Tolkien and other fantasy staples are used to anchor the story in familiar territory before giving way to a deconstruction of the archetypal Source-Path-Goal style of fantasy quest and the metaphorical implications thereof. The exposition details the metaphorical backbone of the story, as the giant is representative of depression and anxiety; the usage of fantasy archetypes, the works of Tolkien in particular, and the deconstruction thereof; the worldbuilding, stemming entirely from the protagonist’s journey; the stylistic efforts made to enhance the storytelling on a metatextual level; and the structure of the novella, which draws heavily from the downward spiral of the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Shakespearean five-act structure