The Underage Übermensch

This is a scholarly work which I wrote in partial fulfillment of my Masters degree in English. I have presented chapters of this thesis at various academic conferences. My focus is on child geniuses in works of contemporary fiction. The literary works I dealt with are Don DeLillo's Ratner's Star, Russel Hoban's Riddley Walker, and J. D. Salinger's "Teddy." Each child in these works displays characteristics which categorizes him as a revolutionary, whether it be in the field of science or culturally. These children fall under the term Ubermensch, coined by Friedrich Nietzsche in his many writings on the importance of breaking from tradition in order to advance mankind.