Analytical Essay on the Destrutive Powers of Facism

Dealing with grief has always been a long, tough, and harsh process, and the way an individual is affected by grief also varies incredibly. Whilst some may move past the loss of a significant other without major hurdles, others may be left with a lingering void, wherein the memory of the lost used to reside. “We Walked on Water” (2013) by Eliza Robertson presents a teenage boy who has been confronted with these issues, and hereby Robertson explores grief and it’s many facets from a different point of view. Robertson uses different tools and literary devices throughout this exploration, namely a strong thematic focus and an informal but descriptive style of writing.

The narration of the short story, performed by the main character, is a collection of reminiscences and contemplations about his sister Liv, and the grief he experienced after her death. This first-person narration allows the theme of the text to be unfurled on an individual basis, whilst also giving the reader an insight into the characteristics of the main character. The effects that the loss of his sister has had on the main character can be seen with the interruption of his stream of consciousness, in favor of remembering Liv’s quirks, “Your left is your clock. Your timekeeper. Liv played ‘Chopsticks’ with her toes.” (p.5 l. 14) This quote may also speak to the unreliability of the narrator, as it’s obvious that the grief he is experiencing is diminishing his ability to think clearly. Furthermore, different narrative forms are used to convey different sides to both the main character and the grief he is experiencing. A more complex image of the relationship between the main character and his sister can be seen as the narrative form changes, “That’s obscene, said Liv.

I have a craving.

That’s over 100 grams of sugar. For a medium.

Well.” (p.4 l.9) In this quote the use of direct speech in narration gives a more realistic image from a story telling perspective, whilst the narration also shines a light on the realistic sibling bickering that occurs.

The language of the text is dominated by the use of linguistic tools that combine to enforce an informal and descriptively told story. The sentence structure is short, which is a big part of an informal style of writing, “Aunt Bea will drive slow beside me. She will play Creedence Clearwater on tape.” (p. 3 l.22) This short sentence structure, and the overweight of descriptive nouns in the text, “Arrhythmia. Mutated sodium channels, reduced flow of potassium” (p.4 l.20) combines to leave the reader feeling as if the short story were in spoken language. Within the last quote is also an example of a sentence without the usual verb-noun combination that constitutes a grammatically correct sentence, furthering the informality of the text. Moreover, the descriptive nature of the text can be seen in the