The Parable of Nemo

The Shell That Nemo Never Had

Nemo lives among strange creatures. He has just moved from his aquarium to the ocean. In his new neighbourhood, majority of the sea creatures are the turtles. They are strong swimmers, herbivorous and adorn themselves with black shells. Nemo feels naked around them since he doesn’t have the hard cover like theirs. He imagines himself with his own shell. In fact, he tried on several shells in the market in order to fit in. To have a shell would mean an affinity: a point of similarity in an otherwise strange environment in the ocean. He is obviously different from the turtles. They look at him and scrutinized him: openly staring or secretly curious about him. They do not mean to be mean or rude; yet Nemo can feel a growing dislike of being unique, you know, being a standout weirdo is not fun. Although he is used to creatures’ investigative eyes in the aquarium, he started to resent the feeling of caution as eyes followed him everywhere he go in the vast ocean.