Sakimirai

This thesis, a fiction novella, examines themes of nostalgia, perception against reality, redemption and forgiveness, and the inner human. Drawing from a mix of literary classics by greats such as Shakespeare, Morrison, Asimov, Orwell, and Steinbeck as well as real-world experiences, it places an adult in her childhood home and examines her attempts to recreate the past, asking us to what length one will go to satisfy our goals. The human mind holds an all-encompassing power that may change the significance of events large and small, so this work intends to answer the following questions: how valuable a tool is nostalgia; what can one do in the face of crushing perceptions that may warp reality; what constitutes as redemption, and how can one act when forgiveness isn't granted; and what truly defines the inner human, a being under the mind's gripping control?English, Department ofHonors Colleg