For the Love of Another

Abstract

“For the Love of Another” is a creative nonfiction piece relating the struggle of a high school student through the fall semester of his senior year. The story is set in Helena, Montana, where Stephen McLeod, the main character, undergoes two simultaneous narratives of injury: a physical injury suffered during a football season, and an emotional injury through the divorce of his parents. The work itself is composed of several scenes, separated and pieced together chronologically. Beginning in June of 1999, the scenes stretch to December. The title itself, “For the Love of Another,” expresses a complicated theme resonating through many characters in the piece. The main character, Stephen, continues pursuing his football dreams for the love he feels for his teammates. Meanwhile, Stephen’s father leaves his family for the love of another woman. Finally, a reader learns how much Stephen’s mother sacrifices for the love of her children. The writing style was influenced by several of the greatest authors of the twentieth century, including Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce. A combination of their styles creates a stream of consciousness effect. The inspiration for the piece was drawn from an actual journal written during the time of turmoil. It is based entirely on a true story, though some events and names were fictionalized.