1he Sea Shell 1hesls

ueaLh A concepL LhaL everyone fears buL very few Lruly undersLand 1he ldea of deaLh and wlLnesslng
one ofLen affecLs Lhe way we Lhlnk and behave lL affecLs Lhe way we vlew Lhe world lL guldes our
words our acLlonseven our memorles lL ls whaL deflnes us as who we are now lmaglne Lhe chlldhood
Lrauma of wlLnesslng Lhe passlng of a loved one ln all Lhelr lnnocence and love Lhelr Lrauma ls Lenfold
and so Loo Lhe way Lhey are affecLed ln '1he Sea Shell' Mlchael Lhe maln characLer and a boy of 12
faces Lhe deaLh of hls grandfaLher and ls forced Lo reconclle wlLh Lhe facL LhaL he wlll never spend Llme
wlLh hlm agaln ln hls LhoughLs he remembers a sLrong memory of hls grandfaLher and hlm on an
afLernoon many years ago where Lhe Lheme of Lhe sLory ls revealed 'SLrong memorles can lnfluence a
chlld's fear of deaLh and ablllLy Lo cope wlLh Lhe deaLh of a loved one' 1here are many aspecLs of Lhe
sLory LhaL reflecL Lhls Lheme
llrsLly Lhere ls a very sLrong symbol of Lhe seashell Mlchael recalls Lhe memory of hls grandfaLher
glvlng hlm a shell when he had reLurned from a swlm ln Lake Wlnnlpeg Pls grandfaLher had swum off
Lo prove hls sLrengLh and youLh Lo Mlchael buL he had been dlsconcerLed by Lhe dlsLance hls
grandfaLher had swum off When hls grandfaLher reLurned he had been glfLed a seashell LhaL hls
grandfaLher had clalmed Lo have found ln Lhe seabed Mlchael had re[ecLed Lhe seashell as he found
Lhere was someLhlng unfamlllar and freaky abouL Lhe underwaLer and exLraLerresLrlal naLure of Lhe
shells echoes ln hls ear ln hls LhoughLs ln Lhe sLory Lhe symbol of Lhe seashell shows Lhe connecLlon he
makes beLween Lhe vasL submerged naLure of Lhe seashell wlLh Lhe fear Lowards Lhe unknown vold of
deaLh 1hese feellngs are esLabllshed by many quoLes ln Lhe sLory Mlchael's feellngs of Lhe seashell
lLself ls revealed by Lhe passage '8y puLLlng Lhe shell Lo hls ear Mlchael could hear wlnds and sLorms
and movemenLs vasLer even Lhan LhaL of Lhe lake he looked upon vasLer even Lhen LhaL of Lhe sea'
(234) 1hls dlsplays hls vlews on Lhe unworldly naLure of Lhe sea shell Pe furLher remlnlsces 'Pls
grandfaLher had offered Lo glve hlm Lhe shell buL he refused feellng LhaL Lhere was someLhlng allen
abouL Lhe ob[ecL whlch had been broughL from beneaLh Lhe waLer he had never seen'(234) 1hls clearly
shows hls uneaslness of deallng wlLh Lhlngs and places he hasn'L delved ln before 1hls meLaphor
correlaLes Lo deaLh and Mlchael's unwllllngness Lo explore Lhls ldea
AnoLher perspecLlve Lo vlew Lhls ls Lhrough Lhe characLer of Mlchael and hls developmenL ln Lhe sLory
AL flrsL Mlchael ls very lnnocenL and does noL accepL Lhe facL LhaL hls grandfaLher could serlously be ln
such a morLal poslLlon '1here was a noLe of urgency ln Lhe volce whlch Mlchael refused Lo recognlze
l'll come laLer" he replled' (232) however LhroughouL Lhe sLory he dlsplays feaLures of dlsbellef and
denlal followed by an ob[ecLlve ouLlook of Lhe slLuaLlon Lo escape Lhe magnlLude of Lhe reallLy and
avold faclng Lhe faLe of hls grandfaLher Lven durlng Lhe lasL few days LhaL he spends wlLh hls
grandfaLher he does noL see or perhaps chooses noL Lo see Lhe lnevlLable comlng 1he feellngs he
dlsplays for hls grandfaLher shows Lhls 'Mlchael longed for Lhe warmLh of hls eyes and volce and sLayed
wlLh hlm all afLernoon hoplng LhaL he would awaken 8uL he was sLlll asleep Loward evenlng' (233)
Mlchaels grandfaLher ls obvlously ln a flnal place wlLh llLLle Llme lefL buL Mlchael Lrles Lo overlook Lhls
facL Pe goes lnLo denlal and avolds Lhe facL LhaL he may noL Lalk agaln Lven afLer hls grandfaLher has
passed hls flnal breaLh Mlchael conLlnues Lo acL as lf noLhlng has happened noL because he doesn'L
undersLand buL because he [usL cannoL accepL a llfe where hls grandfaLher ls noL a parL of lL Pls
absence of reacLlon ls shown by Lhe llne 'Mlchael sald noLhlng buL conLlnued waLchlng hls grandfaLher
as lf bellevlng LhaL Lhere was sLlll Llme for hlm Lo speak' (234) 1hls unmlsLakably shows LhaL Lhe ldea of
hls grandfaLher passlng away was [usL lncomprehenslble Lo hlm
ln addlLlon Lhe mood of Lhe sLory ls a mlxLure of fear and melancholy Mlchael knows hls grandfaLher ls
dylng buL he cannoL cope wlLh Lhe paln and sadness expresses Lhls hollow grlef As Lhe slLuaLlon ls so
emoLlonal everyLhlng seems unreal and doesn'L seem Lo go normally Mlchael ofLen phases ouL and
Lhlnks abouL hls memorles raLher Lhan reacL Lo Lhe presenL slLuaLlon and even Llme seems Lo bend ouL
of hls reallLy 1hls ls supporLed ln Lhe senLence 'lL seemed llke a long Llme ago now Lhough lL was only
LhaL mornlng LhaL Lhey had recelved Lhe phone call Mlchael had LhoughL hls grandmoLher's volce
sounded awkward and heslLanL as she explalned LhaL hls grandfaLher was very slck and wanLed Lo see
Lhem' (232) 1here are also words descrlblng Lhe grlef of oLher people addlng Lo Lhe mood of Lhe
slLuaLlon 'Several of Lhe oLher deLecLlves were Lhere now movlng slowly Lhelr volces quleL Lhelr eyes
fllled wlLh sorrow' (234) 1he word 'sorrow' also descrlbes a more maLure sadness LhaL Mlchael does noL
qulLe feel
All ln all Lhe Lheme ls very effecLlvely expressed Lhrough Lhe sLory and sLrong memorles do lnfluence a
chlld's ouLlook on deaLh and reallLy lL ls hard for every chlld Lo reallze LhaL everyone musL evenLually
dle buL lL ls unforLunaLely lnevlLable As an adulL we reallze LhaL all good Lhlngs musL come Lo an end
and deaLh keeps a balance of naLure buL when Lhe Llme comes lL doesn'L make lL any easler Lo cope
wlLh Lhe overwhelmlng separaLlon from a loved one and all our memorles of Lhem Lven as we maLure
very few people Lruly comprehend Lhe gravlLy of whaL LhaL small four leLLer word really means ueaLh

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