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Malgorzata Borowy
Instr. Kris Piepenburg
English 102-53
May 7, 2014
Loss of Innocence
Something is always forever gone, but on occasion you get something in return. In fact, most
things are forever gone, once they are gone So living with a loss is necessary, (Hemon qtd in
Berman and Hemon 72: 38). The idea of losing yourself, your identity, your innocence, is difficult to
transform and present in a meaningful representation. Aleksandar Hemon has done just that through his
portrayal of a relationship between an uncle and his nephew in the short story Islands. Islands
reveals a summer trip made by the narrator where he discovered a world of historical significance
unknown to him. The main character, a nine year old boy, takes a trip with his immediate family to visit
his Uncle Julius and Aunt Lyudmila on the island of Mljet, Croatia. The boy is weary of his new
surroundings, the unkempt boat which his family and he make the trip on, to the quaint house of Aunt
Lyudmila. Uncle Julius reveals to him the story behind the pests of the island, the snake and mongoose;
the heartwarming tale of his grandfather and his bees; the unsettling tale of his stay in a childrens
confinement camp; and the astonishing recollection and correlation of seeing a one hundred and fifty-
eight year old man reverting back to the simple comforts just like an infant. The boy learns of his
uncles troubled past and parallels his viewpoints on life. Islands is a powerful, eye-opening,
compelling, and cautionary story that presents a young boy shedding his naive attitude of life by way of
his uncles astonishing tales of his troubled past. Uncle Julius is an unforgiving, competent,
experienced, troubled, direct and straightforward person who has lived a difficult childhood filled with
tournament and misery impacted by the violence of war. The narrator, a young boy, is complacent,
immature, and trustful person who is being taught the harsh realities of life by his uncle. Islands
reveals the repercussions of growing up in political war state as seen in Uncle Juliuss character.
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Additionally, the story presents the impact of Uncle Juliuss traumatic war stories on the psychological
development of the narrator.
Aleksandar Hemon, a Bosnian contemporary writer, emigrated to the United States in 1992 as a
journalist, in the beginning of a political and cultural conflict between the Balkan states. He intended to
stay for only a short time, but when war erupted in his country he applied to stay in the United States as
a refugee (Aleksandar Hemon 150). He began writing fiction in English while attending graduate
school. I couldnt, for some reason, write in Bosnian. I think its because the war cut me off literally,
but also it was outside my experience. I was not shot at or killed, and for some reason I thought I had
not right to use that language. I had not earned it by being there (Hemon qtd in Kaminski par. 9).
Hemon did write of the history and impact growing up in Bosnia had on him. His first collection of
short fiction, Question for Bruno, highlights certain trends in contemporary writing: extreme self-
consciousness, a strong sense of belatedness, a jokey tone, and a taste for pastiche, stated Wilson
(par.3). This collection includes stories of life in Bosnia, history of the twenty-first century wars, and
stories of the immigrant experience. Wilson explains, While Hemon draws heavily on his family
experience in the book, and even refers to his family by name, as one might expect from a memoir
rather than a work of fiction (par. 4). He makes connections of his historical background with his
political opinion. Hemons short story Islands is deeply seeded with the historical consequences of
Soviet regime on former Yugoslavia in the 1940s. The short story follows the narrators recollection of
visiting his Uncle Julius in Croatia, on the island of Mljet. The uncle tells stories about the period during
which he was in the gulag under Stalin.
The narrator in Islands is a young boy who gains an understanding of himself while on the
family trip. The boy is very passive regarding his interactions with the adults he interacts with. He is
young and immature. Near the beginning of the story when the boys hat gets swept away by the wind
into the sea they boys only reaction was to begin crying and sobbed [himself] to sleep (Hemon 4).
The child is presented as really juvenile. He is emotional and melodramatic regarding the loss of his hat.
The boy also has other outburst of pessimistic attitude. When the boy finally meets his Uncle Julius, he
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is disgusted by the uncles decaying teeth, and he hides his face in his mothers skirt. The boy cries,
Can we please go back home! (Hemon 5). The boy is scared of the unknown and unfamiliar. He is
dependent on the security and safety of the adults surrounding him.
The crucial component to the narrators understandings of their surroundings is deeply impacted
by the adult mentors in their lives. The boy in Islands is deeply affected by the storytelling of his
Uncle Julius. Uncle Julius is a brutally honest man who has lived a disturbing childhood in a
confinement camp. This part of his life has profoundly impacted his turnout and this is what he attempts
to show the narrator. Uncle Julius attempts to tell the gruesome fate of a memorable boy, Vanyka, he
met in the confinement camp when another adult points out, Dont torture the boy with these stories.
He wont be able to sleep ever again. No, let him hear, he should know, states Uncle Julius (Hemon
10). Uncle Julius is very hard on the narrator. He is aware of the low maturity level of the boy and wants
him to understand the brutalities of the world. Uncle Julius does have regard for the boys age and
whether his stories are appropriate for his listener. Trudell explains, Uncle Julius, who seems to want
to make an impression on his nephew, tells the story of Vanyka for his benefit, saying ominously that
he should know the story (par. 3). Trudell further explains, Since [Uncle Julius and the narrator] are
nearly the same age, Uncle Julius implies, his nephew should learn something from Vanykas
experience. The essence of this lesson seems to be that the narrator must lose his innocence and
recognize the horrible realities of the world (par. 3). In the midst of the story, Uncle Julius is furious
with the boys frivolous outburst regarding his refusal to drink water taken from a water tank which had
a slug near it. You dont want to drink the water! What would you do if you were so thirsty that you
were nearly crazy and having one thought only: water, water! and theres no water. How old are you?
(Hemon 9). Uncle Julius is taken aback by the narrators childish reaction. He views the narrator as
being absurd but that is only a reaction due to his early hardship in the labor camp.
The Soviet system of forced labor camps, the Gulag, was active from the 1920s until the mid-
1950s. These labor camps incarcerated over 18 million of people as a way of mainly demeaning and
suppressing ethnic groups of the Soviet region under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin (Bacon 423,425).
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Bacon illustrates, In terms of ideological justification, the Gulag camps were deemed superior to
capitalist prison systems, with the ideological emphasis being on reeducating criminals through labor
to become good citizens of the workers state. In reality, labor far outweighed reeducation in the
prisoners experience (424). Uncle Julius from Islands, was sent to such a forced labor camp as a
result of missing numerous days of school. He was transferred to numerous camps until he ended up in
Siberia and forced to work as a gravedigger, at which point he was reunited with the dying Vanyka.
The boy from Islands is very receptive to the teachings of Uncle Julius. Even though the boy
at time does not grasp the magnitude of the angst and brutality in his uncles stories, he at least begins to
contemplate how these stories relate to his life. Uncle Julius continues his tale of Vanyka and his stay at
the confinement camp: They didnt know what to do in the camp, so the criminals took the nicest-
looking to their quarters and fed them, and you know (no, I didnt) abused them (Hemon 9). This
gruesome tale of the mistreated children of the confinement camp is difficult for the narrator to
understand. He makes a statement that really is beyond the grasp of the narrator. The narrator is
uncertain by the statement you know abused them. We hear his introjection no, I didnt to
validate that he does not have the sense to grasp the seriousness of where the story is heading. It can
even be concluded that the text abused them is a general term alluding to something more repulsive
that was actually taking place. At end of the tale of Vanyka, Uncle Julius falls reticent and no one
dared to say anything. But I asked: So what happened to him? He was killed, he said, making a
motion with his hand, as if thrusting me aside, out of his sight (Hemon 11). Uncle Julius was caught by
surprise of the narrators curiosity of his story. The narrator prior to this was also really quiet and
reserved, not attempting to make any conversations with uncle. The narrator is not injured, tortured or
imprisoned, but he does experience a loss of innocence (Trudell par. 7). The adults during this tale
probably realized the outcome of Vanykas short life, but the narrator is still a young boy, sheltered and
unaware of the brutal ways of humanity.
Vanykas childhood trauma brings out the narrators own loos of innocence, instead of
minimizing it or overshadowing it, mainly because his story calls attention to the brutal ways in which
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authority and society force children to grow up (Trudell par. 9). This explicit and violent method of
journey toward self-awareness experience by Uncle Julius has also lasting effect on the narrator.
Devakumar, Birch, Osrin, Sondorp and Wells describe the negative effects of growing up in a violent
environment, such as experienced by Uncle Julius. The researchers state, There is some evidence that
children who witnessed frightening events are more immune to the horrors of violence (4). There are
lasting effects of experiencing trauma or being exposed to an environment impacted by violence. De
Jong et al. showed that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety disorders were the most common
mental illnesses in all populations, and exposure to violence increased their likelihood (qtd in
Devakumar 4). The effects of violence on children can have other lasting effects, such as depression and
thereby pessimism towards life. Uncle Juliuss life is filled with pessimism and fatalism. His early
childhood exposure to the turmoil of life and its miseries of human actions has created a man that has
very cynical outlook on life. Early on in the story, Uncle Julius states, So thats how it is its one pest
after another, like revolutions. Life is nothing if not a succession of evils (Hemon 6). Uncle Julius goes
on to pull out a tiny pebble out of his shoe signifying the daily evils. Uncle Juliuss discussion of life is
very discouraging. Whether that involves the major aspect of life, such as government powers, or the
minor, as that pebble in his shoe, something always gets in the way of your happiness. Uncle Julius
projects feelings of hopelessness. He feels defeated in these situations, and we can assume in his general
day to day life. He doesnt even attempt to overcome these obstacles; he just succumbs to their leverage
over his being. Uncle Juliuss outlook on life can be attributed to what he was subjected to as a child.
After he recollects seeing the old man in his biology class, at the end of the story, he states I figured
out then that life is a cycle, you get back right where you started if you get to be a hundred and fifty-
eight years old. Its like a dog chasing its own tail, all for naught. We live a live, and in the end were
just like this boy [he pointed at me], knowing nothing, remembering nothing. You might as well stop
living now, my son. You might just as well stop, for nothing will change (Hemon 19). Uncle Juliuss
life is filled with overwhelming and eye-opening events that have ultimately changed his outlook on
life. Uncle Juliuss philosophy of life is based on what he was exposed to early on in life, like the
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turmoil of life and mysteries of human actions. He is seeing the evils of life and wants to make sure the
narrator is aware of this also, as we can see that the narrator is very young and has not been damaged
yet. Uncle Julius understands that life is not worth living for since the old man turns back into an infant-
like state with no recollections of life and joy, he believes that there is always a succession of the strong
replacing the weaker. Even if you are the strong, one day, you can be replaced or taken over by someone
who is stronger than you. This attitude towards life has shattered Uncle Juliuss entire optimistic
attitude. He understands that living is difficult when you understand others motivation to overturn
others for their own benefit, to come out on top.
Children affected by the violence of war are deprived of basic existential needs and of all
human rights and values, [war] eliminates emotional comfort, it causes irreversible material and kin
losses, physical exhaustion, psychological breakdowns, and makes futile all everyday routines (Flogel
and Laue 1). Despite being subjected to such traumatic experiences, children such as Uncle Julius,
nevertheless develop basic moral concepts (Wainryb and Pasupathi 4). This moral concept includes
empathy, knowing right from wrong, and appropriate psychological reactions to live stressors. Osofsky
reveals that the most important protective resource to enable a child cope with exposure to violence is a
strong relationship with a competent, caring, positive adult, most often a parent (38). This can be seen
as Uncle Julius attempts to teach the narrator about beekeeping and brings him to the beehives. The
narrators says: He would tell me to be absolutely silent and not to move and not to blinkEventually,
Id break down and run back to the house, get on the stairs, from where Id see him, remote, immobile
apart from the slow, wise motions of his apt hands. Id watch him, as if he were projected on a screen of
olive trees and aisles of beehives, then hed turn to me and I could discern a peculiar, tranquil smile
behind the veil (Hemon 17). Uncle Julius, as difficult and brutally honest that he is, is still nurturing
and caring. The narrator does recognize his uncles gift in caring for the bees and believes him to be
experienced and wise. The tranquil smile of Uncle Julius is a smile of empathy. Uncle Julius
understands that the boy is frightened and that is an understandable reaction, as this is the first attempt at
trying something new without the boy reacting childishly. Uncle Julius is hoping that all of these
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experiences and stories which the boy engaged in the past couple of days are beneficial to how he
chooses to live his life and to his survival amongst the evils of the world. Even as the cat, at the end of
the story, looks at the narrator with irreversible hatred for leaving him, unintentionally, to starve,
Uncle Julius looks at society the same way. Uncle Julius, just as the cat, was left to fend for himself
under poor circumstances which would not warrant any means for survival.
Loss in not something you can dismiss and forget about (Hemon qtd in Kaminski par 2).
Uncle Julius experienced loss of his childhood and of his innocence by being exposed to the violence
and desperation while in the Gulag. The harsh environment, evil society, and unimaginable
psychological trauma, has led to Uncle Julius pointing out that Life is nothing if not a succession of
evils (Hemon 19). There was in impact of psychological detriment following Uncle Juliuss difficult
childhood. As he learned from that, he attempted to show to his nephew the truths of the society that we
live in. And by doing this, in return, he took away the boys innocence and childhood.


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Works Cited
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2006. 148-161. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Bacon, Edwin. Gulag. Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L.
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Berman, Jenifer, and Aleksandar Hemon. Aleksandar Hemon. BOMB 72 (2002): 36-41. JSTOR. Web.
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Devakumar, Delan, Marion Birch, David Osrin, Egbert Sondorp, and Jonathan Ck Wells. "The
Intergenerational Effects of War on the Health of Children." BMC Medicine 12.1 (2014): 1-15.
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Flogel, Mirna, and Gordan Lauc. War Stress Effects of the War in the Area of Former Yugoslavia.
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Kaminski, Matthew. In Chicago, a Sarajevo Exile Finds a New Home and Voice. The Wall Street
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Detroit: Gale, 2005. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Osofsky, Joy D. "The Impact of Violence on Children." The Future of Children 9.3 (1999): 33-49. Print.
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Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Wainryb, Cecilia, and Monisha Pasupathi. The Psychological Impact of Political Violence on Children.
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Wilson, John. The Question of Bruno. Magills Literary Annual 2001 (2001): 1-4. Literary Reference
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