Douglas Couplans's Miss Wyoming: A comparative study
When our lives take a turn in the opposite direction from the sturdy, straight path we are accustomed to, it is because there is some kind of nagging force present in our lives, either internally or externally, which is beyond our control. It is only when we cannot cope with these internal and external aspects of our existence that we tend to give up all hope for our lives to improve, and resort to merely putting up with the pathetic lives we lead. The characters in the novels Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland and Courage My Love by Sarah Dearing, Susan Colgate and Nova Philip, experience this loss of hope, and both find themselves taking spiritual journeys with the hopes of finding what truly makes them happy, aspiring to improve their outlook on life. When the internal and external aspects of the lives of Susan and Nova are examined, it is evident that Coupland and Dearing have created characters that are very much alike. One of the most influential factors on a person’s outlook on life is his or her self-esteem, an important internal aspect of everyone’s lives. In both Miss Wyoming and Courage My Love the reader is introduced to a protagonist who has extremely low self-esteem and is miserable on account of it. The
Unlike Susan, she was not entirely convinced, at first, that abandoning her marriage and the comfort of her lifestyle would be the best thing for her to do. However, after contemplating her need to “escape before [she] became too much the wife”, as she felt she was “too young for that” (Dearing 6), she persuaded herself to believe that leaving Brendan was the right decision. It does not become evident that Nova is entirely comfortable with her new free-spirited identity until the end of the novel, but the reader can sense her happiness as she compares her old self to her new self. They hand me the passport, and I look at the picture of a young woman with dead green eyes. “You’re Mrs. Philippa Donahue?”
Some topics in this essay:
Susan Nova,
Nova Philip,
Courage Love,
Unlike Susan,
Coupland Dearing,
Tommy Nova,
Donahue Living,
,
Randy Montarelli,
Junior Randy,
susan nova,
nova philip,
internal external aspects,
outlook life,
colgate nova,
internal external,
external aspects,
colgate nova philip,
susan colgate,
susan colgate nova,
low self-esteem,
philip experience,
nova philip experience,
douglas coupland,
external aspects lives,
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Approximate Word count = 1434
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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