Introduction
The story that had impressed me in my recent readings is ‘Heal,’ written by Ankit Raj Bachchan on a short story website, because of its simple, concise, direct and clear narrative. The story was selected as story of the month in July 2012 and had been listed as the Editor’s pick. The theme as the name suggests is about healing. The story is about the narrator, a lady, whose name is not specified, bereaving the loss of Adi, her husband. The story opens with her standing at a seaside home, with coffee in her hand. It is then that she spots the lonely male who is standing on a rock staring at the ocean before him and felt an instant connect with him. Unable to shake the picture of him, she makes frequent visits to the beach yearning to see him once again, and before leaving the place happens to see him and gets to understand that he was also grieving the loss of a dear playmate, his master’s daughter, Maggie. The narrator’s grief is thus wiped away by the grief of the dog, Scott, who still believes that Maggie will return from the beach.
The narrator, as the hero of the story, represents people who are affected by grief, especially of death of a dear family member. As it often happens in the world around us, it definitely takes a longer time for people to come to terms with reality, or heal as it were, after losing a spouse. The theme of healing, as the title suggests, resonates throughout the story and we find the author trying her level best to get healed. The theme of grief is suggested right in the opening line of the story, “I stood on the balcony, staring blankly at the crashing waves,” which sets the tone of what follows. Again the narrator brings out the element of grief point blank in the following words, “My grief was mine and mine alone. I missed Adi every minute of the day,..” And again in the following words, “I suddenly missed him terribly. And I almost burst into tears again”. (Bachchan, 2012). The same element of grief is poignantly brought out in the conversation with the maid who comes in search of the Scott, during a rainy evening, before the narrator was leaving. “It’s been a year. They were playing in the beach one evening when she ran into the sea chasing a ball. She was just five years old, such a pretty child. We couldn’t even find her body.” Tears filled the woman’s eyes.” (Bachchan, 2012).
Healing, as another major theme, is brought out when the narrator writes, “I was healing. Or atleast, I was supposed to be healing. It was peaceful now, being away from the sympathy and shared tears.” And later, “ ‘Forget , Scott.’ I whispered. ‘ Heal. They are not coming back. Your Maggie. Or my Adi.’ ” The narrator’s deliberate attempt to get away from her sorrow and to get healed of it makes her take a break to the place from where she writes her story She tries to soothe herself by reading, writing, making visits to the beach, swimming and walking in the gardens. She also finds comfort in the isolation and the sea.
The theme of empathy is felt when she mentions that Scot was staring into the sea just as she had done some time ago. A few weeks of observation makes her understand that Scot was also undergoing a similar sadness like hers. And on the day of parting she understands the reason for his sorrow while speaking to the maid, and sheds tears empathizing with Scots’s mourning. “A tear rolled down my cheek. For the first time in months, it was not a tear for Adi.” The final lines of the story portrays the narrator’s empathy for Scot, “I bent down to touch him. He moved closer and looked at me, eyes limpid pools of sadness. And as though he understood what I had said, he let out a short bark and wagged his tail.”
Conclusion
Readers who read this story are compelled to share with the narrator and the dog, Scot’s grief and identify their attempts to get away in order to heal. While the human induces herself to escape from her loss, the dog still waiting for its playmate to appear, seems to realize the narrator’s words at the end. Through this story the author wants the readers to understand, that grief is the common to both the human and animals but while the former attempts to deliberately come out of it, the dog finds it difficult to let go, making this a heart wrenching story.
References
Bachchan, A. R. (2012, July 13). Your Story Club. Retrieved from yourstoryclub.com: http://yourstoryclub.com/short-stories-social-moral/social-short-story-heal/
Hansen, A. J. (2015, August 14). Short Story Literature. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/short-story
