Hyde, Michael (1997) River's edge (a young adult novel) : an investigation of youth suicide and its relationship to the struggle for the meaning of human existence. Research Master thesis, Victoria University of Technology.

Abstract

The high incidence of violent suicides by young males is well documented. But why does a young man choose death? Why does he choose darkness over light? My thesis investigates by way of a novel, the problem of youth suicide and its relation to the meaning of human existence. There were two subsidiary aims of the thesis. First, to establish an intimate narrative tone. Second, to explore the technique of ''magic realism' which David Lodge defines as 'when marvellous and impossible events occur in what otherwise purports to be a realistic narrative.' Due to the method of analysis and the interactive nature of a novel, conclusions were not cut and dried, as my Afterword suggests. Answers were discovered creatively, not clinically or empirically. Nevertheless, the important role of parents, the healing nature of story, the need to seek one's spirituality, the ability to express one's own feelings and to have and show compassion to others - all emerged as the main answers to the problem of youth suicide and its relationship to the meaning of human existence.

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