Theme of Loss
Loss is a phenomenon that everyone experiences in life. Whether it is a loss of great or little significance just depends on how a particular individual handles the situation. After reading the short stories by Caribbean and African writers in Concert of Voices it is evident that a general theme in many of the stories is loss. Throughout these stories characters experience the loss of something that is of great importance to them. The deprivation of this thing causes a feeling of emptiness or incompleteness within a person, troubling them emotionally. Loss is an inevitable occurrence found in everyday life. It is not something that tends to cause happiness when experienced. Once experienced, one must overcome this loss and move on with life. Personally, I can relate to this sense of having to "move on". Very recently one of my grandfather's passed away. I was very close to him. He was one of my most trusted friends in the world. The day of his death all my family and I waited by his bedside in the hospital until his last breathe was taken. The moment he stopped breathing it was as if I piece of me was torn out. Not physically, but in a mental way far worse than any physical pain could caus
Losing a person can be devastating in life but so can the loss of an object or thing that means a lot to one. Another story where loss is clearly evident is "The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream" by Olive Senior. In this particular story it is the loss of an object which a young boy named Benjy cared for. This object was ice cream. Although one would think that this object should not hold such a great connotation in the child's life, it was the world to Benjy at the age he was in the story. He loved ice cream before he had even experienced it, both in sight and taste. It was a mental picture he had created in his brain of everything that was perfect in life. "Ice Cream! The very words conveyed to him the sound in his life that he had always wanted, always longed for, but could not give a name to. He had never tasted ice cream."(385). He had learned of ice cream from his sister who had tried it at the annual Harvest Festival Sale. She described it to him as the best dream he ever had. Once she told him this he knew he had to have it. He waited two years in anticipation for the day to come that he could taste it at the Harvest Festival Sale. When the day finally arrived he was overwhelmed with excitement. Throughout the wait of the day, Benjy goes through multiple occasions of emotional outbreaks while waiting for his Dad to purchase the ice cream for fear of loss that he will never get the chance to experience his most excellent dream. It was not till the end of the day, when the sale was almost over, that Benjy actually got the chance to have ice cream. In spite of all his misconceptions he does get ice cream. His father had to buy it for him and he did not get around to it until the sale was almost over that night. This was due to the fact that he was busy observing his wife to ensure that she was not proving his assumption of her cheating on him correct. When Benjy receives the ice cream from his Dad he is taken aghast be it and just marvels at the aurora that surrounds it. He finally is holding his most treasured thought in life. Before Benjy has the chance to taste the ice cream it is flung from his hand as his father runs towards his mother dragging Benjy behind. The father has spotted the mother talking to another man, while poor Benjy is distraught by the fact that his ice cream is gone. "Mama isn't laughing anymore and why is ever
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1596
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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