Annotations of "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried"

"In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried"

by Amy Hempel

From the first line, the narrator establishes the upcoming death of the friend.

The seriousness of the friend's condition is avoided by the narrator. She uses humor to neutralize the issue.

Symbols of life

Man: What is the point?

Why does the narrator compare them or herself to criminals? What is the source of her guilt?

In the above tangents, the narrator reinforces the bond that the two women share.

The Plot

Love makes us lie? How is the narrator's guilt attached to love and/or deception?

Remember minimalism:

• Everything is paired down to its smallest essential part. The plot of this story really exists in half a page.
• All other material reinforces theme by tangentially relating to this little plot.

Notice the euphemism in this line: avoids acknowledging the death of the friend?

The narrator tried to confront her fear of death and failed. She is afraid that she will always be afraid, especially now that she is alone.

Like the friend was to the narrator, Al Jolson was an old song and dance man (he entertained and made people happy).

This reinforces the prolonged fear and shows that the narrator is traumatized by the events of the story.

We learn that the friend has been sick for a long time and the narrator selfishly focuses on her own life.

Reminder of the guilt, but now the line between good and bad is blurred.

What is the story about?

---ONLY---

Death

Theme: It isn't death that is dangerous; it is the failure to accept death that we should fear. By failing to accept the inevitable/natural, we experience real fear, grief, guilt and trauma.

Grief

Friendship

Reinforces deaths of both women at the same time.

Word choice indicates a comfort and protection. She uses humor to avoid pain and trauma.

How long would you wait to visit a friend in the hospital?

The narrator waits 2 months? Why would she wait so long?

Guilt

Fear

Gestures of love and seriousness. These are images that were not given in the body of the story, but are alluded to now.

In minimalism, is it important to tell the facts without getting caught up in emotional narrative. The narrator has not given us the details that would show her pain most clearly. She has tried to reveal this pain through tangents.

To the narrator, her dying friend is the equivalent to looking at the "wet bone" (death). In this experience, she is trying to face her fear of death.

Think back to the chimp. The narrator wants to lie to protect herself from pain.

This dream reinforces friendship. Without the friend, the narrator is an empty house. She lacks color and joy.

Mirror Theory:

• Mirrors allow us to create an identity for ourselves.
• We look in the mirror to see ourselves as others see us.
• We analyze the ways others react to us to create our identity.
• If our environments tells us we are ___________, then we feel like we are ___________.

Even though the friend is close to death, the narrator finds her beautiful.

What does this mean for our narrator?

• Her identity is largely based in the friendship she has with the dying woman.
• Without the dying woman, our narrator will lose part of her established identity.

How can she abandon her friend at this moment?

Avoidance/Denial of death

The narrator failed to stay strong for her friend.

The narrator chooses her own life.

Grief and Acceptance are not the same. The narrator cannot find a way to accept the death of her friend, nor can she accept her own actions at the end. But her actions should not be read to show apathy.

Directions for Close reading:

Line-by-line, (1) connect the text to the subjects listed above, (2) ask questions about the text, (3) look for answers to questions previously asked.

Pause and Summarize

Friendship: Ok. The maid visits, but where is the family? the other friends?

Reinforcement: death without the comfort of religion.

What solution is there for death? Not to live?

The end is soon.

There is no wisdom applicable to this situation. Reinforces helplessness.

We now know:

• the friend has been in the hospital for months (at least two).
• the friend likely has leukemia (clean room, terminal)
• the two woman are extremely close: the narrator feels great love for the friend
• the narrator also feels great fear; she is terrified of death.
• because she is split between love and fear, the narrator creates distance through humor and avoidance.
• the narrator feels guilty

The moon is a feminine symbol. Howling is often connected to mourning. The narrator is grieving already.

Return to avoidance.

reinforces powerlessness

What stage is the narrator in?

What stage is the friend in?

The friend is referencing assisted suicide. She knows her health will decline and the end of her life will be pain.

Who can the narrator be angry at?

Reference to the Grief Cycle: Denial--Anger--Bargaining--Depression--Acceptance.

Our narrator leaves out acceptance, probably because she can't accept.

Both women seem to question the afterlife. In the absence of religious afterlife, death is logically scarier.

This simile sets a gravity to the situation. The death of this friend would kill the narrator.

The beach has been established as a symbol of health/life/youth.

This is in contrast to the hospital and the condition of the friend.

Even here, the narrator is reminded of death.

And fear...

A third fear is introduced: Fear of Flying

The "good doctor" is a the less serious one. Like the narrator, he tells jokes instead of dealing with the seriousness of death.

Ominous foreshadowing?

Pause and Summarize

Parallel? The narrator is like the mother; she has a duty to "be there," but is not. Reinforces guilt.

Realistically, much less...

The "good doctor" is protecting the narrator from her fear of "seeing death" by letting her leave during examination.

So the narrator can stay longer.

Spins the idiom to add humor and avoid the seriousness of death.

Friendship: the narrator has always been able to rely on her friend to support her through fear of earthquakes.

Hospital Escape: Leave the clean-room (which would be suicide) for one last outing/adventure/experience.

Call to action? What does the friend what the narrator to do? Connect it back to Kevorkian and Kubler-Ross.

The narrator equates staying with her friend and death, as if watching her friend die will kill her.

Admit the inevitable. Death is a guarantee. This heightens the narrator's fear.

We now know:

• There are three fears working through this text.
• Death
• Earthquakes
• Flying
• The narrator relies on her friend for strength.
• The friend is beginning to accept her coming death, but may need the narrator for support.

More avoidance of the seriousness of death

Friendship seems distant: the action is given to "mouth" instead of directly to the friend.

Barrier: The narrator is likely outside of the room at this point and is seeing her friend through a window. This symbolic barrier may signal a change in the story.

Dreams are very important. They reveal subconscious feelings and knowledge.

In this dream, the friend's fearlessness helps the narrator with her own fear.

Why is the beach dangerous?

The narrator reveals another great fear: the fear of earthquakes.

The narrator feels powerless about her fears. She cannot control earthquakes any more than she can control death.

Think back: "What seems dangerous often is not." What we have to fear are the "silent killers."

The narrator's fear is stronger than logic. This is the definition of Phobia.

The friend cannot be fearless now, this close to death. This is the narrator's opportunity to become fearless for her friend, to support her the way she has been supported.