On January 19, 2013; I watched a woman die. This woman was my great-grandmother, whom I was very close with. This was the first of two times I would ever see someone die in person. Seeing someone die is strange. If you’ve never seen it, I don’t recommend it. Let’s step back a bit, I’ve always been perplexed by death. It’s very strange. Whenever I think of it too much, I cry. It’s perplexed me ever since I was about four-years-old. “What do you mean they’re dead?” I would inquire. The concept to me was absolutely bonkers. In the blink of an eye, someone’s whole existence and all of their fathomable future achievements are gone. It is in every sense, a profligate process. Two years later on May 13, 2015; I witnessed another death, a death that …show more content…
Life is valuable. It’s so valuable that we think it’s a good threat to take it away. It’s always our most valuable possessions that we care for least. You matter, and everyone sitting next to you matters. I hate to say it, but all lives matter. As to avoid any flak from my previous statement, no I don’t mean, “I’m making an excuse to oppose any movement towards justice because I’m profoundly, radically racist. I also oppose common sense but I need a shortened phrase that derives the same meaning, and I’m going to ruin this phrase for every rational human being on the planet,” all lives matter. I mean, “I feel like every human life is valuable because everyone has so much potential ahead of them,” all lives matter. It had taken me such a long time to realize how splendidly breathtaking everything was. Look not at what a person has done, but what a person can and will do. Everything changed. My experience had taught me that a person’s potential is so amazing. You are a miracle, and the fact that you walk around every day is truly amazing. The diversity and potential that you pass everyday is unbelievable. There’s so much to see if you just
Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A
Painful as it may be, such experiences brings home the finality of death. Something deep within us demands a confrontation with death. A last look assures us that the person we loved is, indeed, gone forever.” (108) Cable finishes his essay by asking, Tim if his job ever depressed him. Tim in reply says, “No it doesn’t, and I do what I can for people and take satisfaction in enabling relatives to see their loved ones as they were in real life.” (108) After reading this essay I feel as though sometimes we don’t understand death so therefore we do not talk much about it. By reading about what goes on after your loved one dies and is sent to these places to be prepared and ready for burial, it helps to understand why morticians and funeral directors do what they do. Knowing that someone enjoys taking the responsibility in providing that comfort in a sorrowful time makes me appreciate these people in these occupations a bit
What is a human life worth? To some it’s priceless, and to others nothing at all. As humans we tend not to think about it and just live, it’s what we do. In the past however, it was a different story, the world is completely different now. Life used to be much harder than it currently is, especially for African Americans.
At first glance, the concept of death seems simple; one tries to live as long as possible, and when the time comes, he goes. However, there is much more to it than that. There is everything that leads to a person’s death and there is the aftermath. In her article “Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-Gay Murder,” Beth Loffreda talks about the outcome of a gay young man named Matt Shepard being murdered, and how he became lost in the wake of the movement that followed. Similarly, Jon Krakauer retraces the story of a young man named Chris McCandless who died in the Alaskan wilderness in his piece “Into the
Turn on the television set or watch a movie, and chances are that you are going to see someone meet their fictional death. It is a frequent occurrence that is seen every day. Our culture accepts this as undisputed and unnoticed fact; it has become a commonplace minutia that has gotten lost in the speed of everyday life. Although we witness these horrific ends daily, it is important to recognize that this is a very real event that everyone will have to experience at some point. All too often, this point is ignored in contemporary American culture. The rites and rituals of death and post-death are critical to the American culture, yet are often overlooked.
Death consumes the world, there has been almost three million deaths so far with only three weeks into the year. There are people all over the world who come face to face with death daily. It seems as if death roams the world. Some deaths are more tragic than others. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, several people die but the death of Curley’s wife was the most tragic of all. She was unjustly murdered and she didn’t even have an identity. When she died, she left the world in loneliness, in the end no one ever got to know her or mourn her death. She died alone. Innocent people die every minute, she was one of those innocent people. One minute, a person can be full of life and the next they’re gone.
Life’s greatest mystery among the living has always been death. Although death is a universal experience, the question, “what happens after death?” has haunted humanity throughout all of history. Even the most intelligent beings of the human race have argued the issue of death through the lenses of science, religion, and philosophy, and come to no agreeable conclusion. Death is an inevitable phenomenon, but it remains the most daunting unanswerable question. In her poem “When Death Comes”, Mary Oliver uses simile, metaphor and a comforting, inspirational tone to minimize the fear and arguments surrounding death and emphasize the importance of fulfilling life. Rather than being a daunting end, death’s approach should be a motivation to experience
Fiction is a gateway from reality via the likely impossible and supernatural. Countless of media productions explicitly or implicitly allude to death and/or ceasing to exist. Thanatological entertainment is in high demand, resulting in an abundance of fiction in the market. Romanticizing death is ironic, as death is a morbid, unpredictable, and ambiguous concept that should not be encountered nor discussed daily. Yet, we are bombarded with the concept through commercials about medication, TV series about crime solving and lyrics that question our very existence. And still we take death as a figurative idea rather than a literal one. As stated by Elisabeth Kubler Ross, a Swedish American psychiatrist, ‘‘by rendering death into humor and entertainment, we effectively neutralize it’’,
Death is a very controversial subject. Many argue that it is a terrible phenomenon in life, while others argue for its necessity. One kind of death, however, most would argue against. The death of a child. Something so dreaded it has become a sort of taboo to Western society. Death is a very curious thing, it may take some, while it leaves others. Sometimes it can be surprising, while other times expected. While death may be one of the most inexplicable and confusing phenomena that our world has to offer, there is one certainty, and that is that death is inevitable. As a child, I always knew this to be fact, though I never really saw the effects of it, until I was
Death is something that people must deal with every day in our world, and there are several aspects of death that sometimes the living do not consider. For example, how does one celebrate or remember passed loved ones? What happens to you when you die? How would you like to be remembered? There are multiple ways to answer these questions, and examining differing points of view can be enlightening.
Death is an inevitable and unfortunate part of life that is often met with fear and despair. Some are afraid of the anticipated pain and the uncertainty of the afterlife, while others can accept their fate and see death as part of a cycle in nature. Most of us would prefer to die in the comfort of our homes with loved ones and under their own terms, however approximately 50% of Americans die in hospitals. And although our lifespans continue to climb due to medication and technology, it is those advancements that keep people from leaving this world as they see fit. No matter how a person dies, there is a sense of loss and grief for those who were surrounded or influenced by this person. It is often very hard to cope
No matter how small the life may seem from the eyes of a human being, all lives matter.
Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.
As millions of babies are born every day, millions of people die as well. Families mourn the death of loved ones while some may go unnoticed. People have contradistinctive ways of dealing with death. Brave New
In spite of this painful occurrence happening to me at twenty-four years of age, emotions such as shock, anger, and guilt, came into play creating chaos. I rerun her death in my mind, yet unable to completely forget the sadness, similar to a synopsis. These feelings can be frightening and overwhelming; however I have learned how to cope and with the realization that life and death are phenomenal both intertwined. I speculate that