The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World is a fictional narrative on the impact that a certain dead man had to the entire village (Garcia et al., 32). As such, it is a narrative renowned for its strong impact on the transformation and improvement the livelihood of individuals. Through the events that are described in the story, death is seen as a means through which better things can be achieved. This is contrary to the traditional belief whereby death was considered as an end to something. Although the dead are no longer powerful, they may end up having a significant impact to the living that could shape their future.
The novel begins with small children playing in the beach. They then come across a dark and slinky object that was being carried by the water. On close examination, they realize that it is a man who had drowned. After playing with the body, an adult who spots it spreads the word to the other villagers about the body. After looking around, they realize that the man is not one of their own. The men, therefore, go to the neighboring towns to inquire whether any of their men was missing. Meanwhile, the women get themselves busy with cleaning the body (Charters, 43).
While doing the cleaning, they realize that the body was the most handsome they have ever seen. As such, they describe him as being tall, strong and most virile. In essence, he was the most built man they had ever seen. During such preparations, they realize that there was no bed that could fit him. None of their husband’s clothes could fit him. They immediately fall for him and deep in their hearts; they curse their husbands for being mean and incomparable to the man. In essence and to the fullest sense, the women adored the man. Due to his exceptional qualities, the village holds a splendid burial ceremony to the man. They then release the body to the cliff without even anchoring it so that he could come back if he wished. From that day onwards, everything changed.
The appearance of a man in that village changed everything. As a matter of fact, all the villagers were of the opinion that the man was better than anything they could offer. They did not have the best beds to lay him. Their houses were too small to accommodate him. On the same note, their clothes were too small for him. It is at this time that they decided that onwards, everything would change so that in cases the same man decided to come back again, they could afford to offer him improved services.
This event motivated them to work hard. For instance, it is then that they decided that they would not only make build spacious houses; but also be stronger and better than what they had. They also decided that in order to make the memories of the man eternal, they would dig for springs in the compounds. They are dedicated to everything that could attract the man come back again. They decide that they will be painting their houses bright. This transformation was all due to the impact that the drowning man had to the village. In order to ensure that the sailors going by would know that Esteban hailed from that village, the villagers plant flowers on the cliffs. All these resulted to having a better village than the one they were currently in when the body was drowned to their village.
‘The Remember’, on the other hand, is a short story that was done by Aimee Bender. The narrator of the story, Annie, tries to inform the reader about Ben, who was her lover. Annie narrates how Ben was retracing the evolution steps. In essence, Ben was changing from a human being to the primitive forms of Homo sapiens. He first becomes an ape, then a turtle, then a salamander (Bender, 32). This negative transformation of Ben was causing worry in Annie’s life as it was becoming hard for her to cope up with the situation. Ben was shedding almost a million years in a single day. Ben was remaining with less than a month to live and as such, it was important for Annie to make hard decisions. On a particular occasion, after coming home, Annie realizes that Ben has turned into a salamander. Du to her inability to deal with this, she decides to throw the salamander into the ocean. She does all this hoping that one day; he would come back from the ocean as the man she once loved, back to history. Although the waiting was indefinite, Annie had a duty to remember about the sweet memories that they had when they were together. For instance, through flashback, she reveals Ben as a very loving person when they first met. For instance, she mentions how they used to sit together and think about everything. They would think about sadness, and they would talk about it. In the end, she had to let him into the ocean in the form of a salamander and keep on waiting and hoping (Dietz et al., 43).
The patience that Annie must undergo in waiting for her husband, who is now in the form of a salamander, to come back a better person is all about transformation. While alive, the two used to be happy together, and this is the reason that she married him. However, due to the reverse evolution, everything seems to change for the worse. This makes it difficult for Annie to cope, and as such, she had to make a decision to release him into the ocean. The negative transformation from a human being to the ape, then from the ape to a salamander reveals the difficulties that human beings must undergo in this life. This should work to strengthen their mental capacities to overcome any situation that they may face thereafter. Releasing Ben into the ocean symbolizes death. However, Annie knows that she has to wait and hope that Ben will come back to life a resourceful person. In the ocean, Annie hopes that Ben will undergo a positive transformation and come back as the person he originally was. As such, death in these cases is used as a metaphor for change.
Transformation is the main theme in the above stories. Though the dead have no power on their own to initiate the transformation, there is something in them that can inspire the living. Due to this, the living should not always see death as a means to ending. Rather, they should see it as an opportunity to learn from the death.
Works Cited
Bender, Aimee. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.
Charters, Ann. Major Writers of Short Fiction: Stories and Commentaries. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1993. Print.
Dietz, Steven, Werdna P. Finley, and Joyce S. Cheeka. The Rememberer. Seattle, Wash. (8616 55th Ave. S.: Rain City Projects, 1993. Print.
García, Márquez G, and Gregory Rabassa. Leaf Storm, and Other Stories. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Print.
