Jacquez 1

Benjamin Jacquez III

Professor Geoghan
Composition 101
Due: September 5th, 2017
Literary Analysis: The Aquarium

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It is the transition that is troublesome. Professor

Isaac Asimov pretty much emphasizes the fact that we all at some point or another will

experience death, and its process, of a dear friend or family member. It is the transition that will

be troublesome and leave us in a state of emotional distress. So then comes the question of how

do different people deal with the reality of death and the process that leads up to it?

In The Aquarium, there are two types of literary elements that Hemon uses to display

the effects of the people associated with Isabel. With that said, there are three different types of

individuals and groups of people that are each affected by the process and death of three month

old Isabel Hemon in their own way(s) shown through the use of literary elements. The first

literary element we see is the use of tone where Teri and Aleksander Hemon, the parents of

Isabel, are the most affected by this process but handled it uniquely than the other two groups.

The second literary element Hemon uses is imagery. Here we have Ella Hemon, the 3 year old

daughter of Teri and Aleksander, who is also significantly affected by the process and outcome of

Isabel but handles it very differently than her parents and the other group. Lastly Hemon uses the

literary element of tone again for this third group. This third group consists of the bystanders of

the family, those that try to support them with sympathy, but that arent affected directly like the

Hemons yet still feel pity for the family.

For Teri and Aleksander, the reader can only imagine the tribulation they endured as the

parents of Isabel during the whole process. However, the very emotional tone Aleksander uses in

the piece gave the reader an insight on how they might be feeling and dealing with the reality.
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The tone in this example however is most closely associated with Aleksanders feelings of being

very subservient in terms of the situation at hand due to the lack of emotion. For example, If

Isabel and Teri, who seldom left her side, were in the hospital for the chemo, Id spend the night

at home with Ella, drop her off at school the next day, then take coffee and breakfast to Teri, and,

while she was having a shower, sing to or play with Isabel (Hemon 8). This just goes to show

the lack of emotion in the description of his subservient routine because he has no other option

but to make the process of Isabels current health situation a part of his daily life, even as

depressing as the situation is for him.

Next we have Ella, who is just the spitting image of an innocent child throughout this

whole dilemma. Speaking of image, Aleksander uses very realistic imagery to emphasize how

Ella deals with her parents having to tend to Isabel whose life is at stake. For example,

Meanwhile, Mingus allowed Ella to practice and expand her language. He also gave her the

company and comfort that Teri and I were barely able to provide (Hemon 10). Mingus is an

imaginary friend that Ella created to cope with the lack of socialization from her parents. Not

only can we visualize Mingus giving her company, but we can also see and imagine how he

helps her to carry on her own monologue conversations which is normal of toddlers that age.

Given that Ella is three years old, this just goes to show how she handles the lack of

companionship due to her parents taking on the responsibilities of Isabel.

Lastly, we have the group known as the bystanders, which incorporate people like the

close friends of the Hemons. Although they arent relatively affected by the same process the

Hemons are going through, they still possess and demonstrate basic human nature. For example

Aleksander says, I had a hard time talking to well-wishers and an even harder time listening to

them. They were kind and supportive, and Teri and I endured their expressions of sympathy
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without begrudging them, as they simply didnt know what else to say. They protected

themselves from what we were going through by limiting themselves to the manageable domain

of vacuous, hackneyed language (Hemon 9). The fact that the bystanders tone, which is

perceived by the Hemons, goes to show that they are sympathetic but are limited in that aspect

because of the fact they are not directly affected by the process that the Hemons are going

through.

When we look to The Aquarium in answering the question of how people deal with the

reality of death and the process that leads up to it, the literary elements of tone and imagery that

Aleksander Hemon use help us to conceive an answer. What I conceive is the fact that everyone

is different when it comes to dealing with death and its process. Things that affect how they deal

with it include relationship to the death, age, and whether they could do anything about it or not.

Death by any means is no easy hurdle to overcome in life, because the hurdle varies in size for

those people affected by it in some way shape or form. Death will always be a troublesome

transition for any human being, but it is the way of life and we must make peace with that

knowledge despite the outcome of it all.