The Twisted Darkness

Emily Westerman

Is there a proper way to grieve a loved one? In the short story, “The Dark,” by Jess Walter it focuses on the grieving process of a man that lost his wife to cancer. However, this is Doug’s journey to getting back to dating as his wife wanted. Throughout the story, the reader goes on a journey from past, looking at Doug’s last moments with his wife, and present as he puts himself out there and dates. The speaker was able to demonstrate Doug’s unique journey through his grief throughout the duration of the story. It followed before, during, and after the loss of his wife while the reader could know his thoughts and feelings during the process. Grief was a major theme throughout the piece which showed the reader how different people can process loss. Through the unique structure of the story, a sarcastic tone, contradictions, and meaningful phrases in italics, “The Dark” demonstrates a realistic perspective to the process of grieving a spouse.

The speaker uses a distinct structure by describing life before and after Doug lost his wife, which helps the reader understand his unique grief journey. To demonstrate the difference between past and present, there is an extra space between paragraphs. This makes it a distinct structure to show the reader the importance of the two time periods by using the white space. This is often how people go through their grief as they are constantly trying to work through the many memories. “The way to regain emotional equilibrium was to ‘work through’ the loss. As Freud described this process, the bereaved person reviews ‘each single one of the memories and hopes which bound the libido’” (Carr, 22). Even though the story is written in third person, the structure creates a demonstration of Doug’s thought processes as he tries to grieve. It is almost as if the reader is in Doug’s head, watching what is happening in the present but also getting bursts of memories from the past. The very first section of the story shows both past and present thoughts, “In the days before she died, Doug’s Wife had given him detailed instructions about how he should comport himself in his future romantic endeavors… Now, almost two years after his wife’s death, Doug Coats finds himself on his first date in forty years” (Walter 160). This is a perfect example to show how the past and present structure affects the reading experience. Within the first section of the story, the reader can understand Doug’s motivations to dating again. This is an odd thing to the outsider, seeing someone who recently lost their spouse move on to the dating world. However, with this perspective the reader understands Doug’s grief process and the choices he makes throughout the rest of the piece.

The small contradictions throughout the story creates a view into Doug’s mind as he is trying to make sense of his grief. Grief is constantly confusing, and feelings start conflicting as the person is trying to make sense of their new life. In an article from British Medical Journal it says, “Three main components affect the process of grieving. They include the urge to look back, cry, and search what is lost, and the conflicting urge to look forward, explore the world that now emerges, and discover what can be carried forward from the past” (Parkes, 857). These contradictory feelings and thoughts affect the way the person grieves, which is seen with Doug throughout the story. One common thing that he struggles with is the subject of an afterlife as he does not believe in one. However, with the loss of his wife there are a few times where he wonders to himself if she is in an afterlife state. “Doug was a geology professor who valued science over superstition… he kept imagining that Ellie knew something that he didn’t, and that she’d found a secret door to some afterlife that, as a nonbeliever, he would never find” (Walter 161-162). The contradictory feelings between his thoughts and beliefs are in this moment. He does not believe in an afterlife, but he wonders if his wife was able to find some sort of afterlife. It is clear in this moment that he just wants to be near his wife presently, but he does not have a way to get there. He wants to find his wife and be close to her again, so his mind starts wondering if there is an afterlife. This is very contradictory for this character as he does not believe in an afterlife but wonders if he is wrong. Grief is confusing and contradictory because the person had something unpredictable happen to them. Their mind is constantly fighting between the past and present trying to make sense of it. The contradictory moments throughout the story help demonstrate how confusing the journey of grief can be, where the person is second guessing their beliefs.

The powerful thoughts of Doug’s grief are emphasized in italics throughout the piece to demonstrate how overwhelming those feelings can be. Italics are a powerful way to bring the reader’s eyes to that phrase more than the rest of the piece. They are often used for important phrases that the speaker wants the reader to focus on. There are several times within this story where there are phrases in italics which tend to be Doug’s thought processes in relation to his grief. They are moments in the story where Doug is being truthful to his feelings and admitting he is struggling. While he is on his date with Marcie, she brings up the subject of losing his wife and his feelings are outlined in italics. “But then she looks up suddenly, and says: ‘Was it hard, losing your wife?’… ‘It was.’ What you can’t ever imagine is the distance, he wants to say” (Walter 165). This is a moment where his true sad feelings are shining through, showing how he really feels within his grief. The distance is what’s hurting him the most as he used to be with his wife all the time, however he doesn’t mention it out loud. This powerful but vulnerable thought is in italics which bring so much more meaning to the phrase. It shows the reader that this is one of his biggest struggles with grief, his innermost thoughts of the loss. The use of italics helps emphasize the important thoughts and emotions that Doug goes through which shows more of his unique grief journey.

Throughout the duration of the story, Doug’s unique journey through grief is illustrated by the structure of the piece, a humorous tone, things that contradict each other, and using italics to emphasize meaning. It shows the reader that grief is not the same path for everyone, but instead it is a unique journey throughout the person’s life. No one goes through the same path, and this is illustrated by Doug’s thoughts and actions through out the story. Going from past to present constantly is a visual representation of what the person is actually going through. The tone to the story gives it a lighthearted tone, however it also demonstrates how Doug is coping with loss. The contradictions add a very raw feeling to the piece as it shows how people think after losing someone close to them. The powerful phrases in italics emphasize the meaning of these desperate thoughts that are going through Doug’s mind. There is no proper way to grieve because no two people are the same. Each person must go through grief at their own pace. While there are better ways to grieve than others, it is a unique journey to each individual. Grief is not linear; it is twisted journey that is different for every person.

Works Cited

Works Cited Carr, Deborah. “Good Grief: Bouncing Back from a Spouse’s Death in Later Life.” Contexts, vol. 5, no. 4, 2006, pp. 22-27. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41801003. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

Parks, Colin Murray. “Coping with Loss: Bereavement in Adult Life.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 316, no.7134, 1998, pp.856-59. JSTOR, http://jstor.org/stable/25178592. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.

Walter, Jess. “The Dark.” Ploughshares, vol. 49 no. 2, 2023, p. 160-169. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/plo.2023.a902375.