Masks In Amy Hempel's In The Cemetery

“In The Cemetery where Al Jolson is buried” by Amy Hempel uses the word masks throughout the story to convey guilt, fear and unacceptance of death. The first mention of the word mask is in the beginning of the story. We are just beginning to understand that Hempel is describing two people in a hospital, the narrator is visiting her friend who is sick. They are both wearing masks, the narrator checks to make sure that she is still breathing and that she is not “ used to the mask yet.” The friend has her mask hanging loose, a “pro by now.” The fact that the narrator describes her friend at being a “pro” and the fact that the narrator is not used to her masks, tells us that the narrator has not been to visit before.
Although the narrator has
not been to visit, she and the friend still act like everything is normal and converse about simple things, ignoring the elephant in the room. The narrator’s friend wants the narrator to stay the night. This is when the narrator decides she cannot take it anymore and says she has to go home. Her friend then “yank[s] off her mask and thr[ows] it on the floor” as the narrator is leaving. This signifies the end of pretending.
The fact that her friend is buried in the same cemetery as Al Jolson, a blackface comedian, is symbolic of the same mask idea. Al Jolson hid himself for comedy, much as the two friends hid their true feelings.
One of Hempel’s techniques is using space breaks instead of transitions. Space breaks give the reader a chance to understand and process past events. According to Hempel herself, “Transitions are usually not that interesting.” She clarifies that “Spaces can signify the way the mind really works [by] noting moments” (CITE).