What Is The Theme Of Destroyed By The Waters

The Missing Ark:

Analysis of Loss in “Destroyed by the Waters” by Rachel Swirsky

Derek saying, "You can't even tell anything was here", is how Swirsky immediately introduces him as a character dealing with loss in “Destroyed by the Waters”(1). “How to cope with loss?”, is a question thematically seen after reading the short story, and is prevalent as a fundamental question concerning life, in many texts, notably the Christian Bible. The Bible shares similarities with the short story, and is alluded to after Zack and Derek’s son, Noah is mentioned. The allusions of the Bible in “Destroyed by the Waters”, aid in answering the fundamental question of “How to cope with loss?”, and retell a realistic“Noah’s Ark”.

Similarly, the two texts focus

Notably, it is significant that Zack tries to protect Derek from his own memories. Zack often explicitly protects, including when Derek is battling his grief at an underwater frontline: “Zack’s body almost forms a wall between Derek and the storefront”(8). Swirsky shows how Zack prevents Derek from activating triggers that worsen his grief. His selfish attempt of preserving only part of someone, deliberately leaving behind their past, is Zack’s answer to this question. Zack’s idea of running away from the confrontation, runs contrary to the concept of preservation, because it does not maintain something in its original form. Essentially, Zack’s actions here deny Derek his opportunity to overcome his grief through direct confrontation and recall, making it clear that the preservation of the ark in the short story, is not

To clarify, there is the presence of an archetypal “Noah”, that similar to his character, is a person that takes the role of the protector. During the storefront encounter flashback, Swirsky describes Zack from a third-person perspective : “People knew Zack didn’t like it when they made fun of the disabled class, or the fat cheerleader that it was easy to make cry. So they didn’t do it if he was around” (8). Additionally, both stories share the same element, water. In both stories, it acts as a metaphor for loss, symbolizing what came before the flood, whether it is the rest of the earth, or the city of New Orleans or