The seaswan : a first draft for a novel
Abstract
The novel focuses on the problem of faith, on the acquistion of faith or a point of view on the nature of the self and the universe, and on the subsequent breakdown of that faith and the attempt to forge a new faith out of the ruins of the old faith. The novel is divided into three parts : in Part I the protagonist is a boy and the faith he acquires is largely religious and based on a notion that the universe is constant and in some way good, benevolent ; in part II this original faith is broken down by a series of experiences which lead to realisations that contradict the original faith, the most important of these realisations being the protagonist's growing consciousness of human mortality and the discovery that human potential, specifically his own portential, is not unlimited ; in part III the protagonist attempts to find a point of view on the nature of his own self and his personal universe by withdrawing and looking inward at himself and his past.