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The Taste of Watermelons

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Submitted By sarasalim
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Secrets by Bernard Maclaverty
This essay is written on a short story by Bernard MacLaverty called “Secrets”. I will explore on the way the author conveyed loss and suffering as the main themes of the story. “Secrets” helped me to understand how easily life can change instantly : from possession to loss; happiness to suffering.
The story “Secrets” is written in a form of a flashback and as it progresses, it introduces the reader to the story’s protagonists: Aunt Mary and ‘the boy’. At the beginning of the story, the author introduces the dying aunt Mary and her nephew she seems distant from. The author then creates a flashback that progressively explains the reason behind the boy’s and aunt’s cold relations. The reader also discovers how the central characters were not always on distant terms, but that they used to share a very close bond. After aunt Mary dies, the boy remembers moments of childhood he shared with aunt Mary, how he betrayed her trust and how aunt Mary never forgave him. Throughout the plot of the tale, the reader is brought in to the themes of loss and suffering.
In the beginning of the story, Bernard MacLaverty introduces the reader to the death of aunt Mary. In this the author partially reveals a portion of aunt Mary’s character. “ She lost all the dignity he knew her to have“ This description is provided by aunt Mary’s nephew. ‘She lost’ symbolises loss and ‘dignity’ suggests aunt Mary’s dignified, natural grace she had before her death. This means that during her death, she lost something very important to her as her nature. She was exposed to the public ‘at her worst’ which proves aunt Mary’s suffering and loss of dignity she treasured. This arouses sympathy towards aunt Mary within me as I find it difficult to imagine the suffering she experiences after losing all she craved in life. Aunt Mary is a very proud person by nature. Her propriety

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