"But if you can't fix it you got a stand it" Determinism in Postcards and Selected Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx

Abstract

This thesis is interested in examining how determinism shapes the characters in Postcards and a selection of the Wyoming Stories by Ameican author Annie Proulx. Throughout this thesis it becomes clear that Proulx's characters are controlled by both internal and external forces, and because of this cannot live as they wish. The discussion will address questions such as the following: To what degree do landscape, geography and place play a part in determining what happens to the characters? How much room is left for human agency, and what possibilities do characters have to shape their own outcomes and destinies in the harsh and unforgiving environment Proulx presents in her writing?