View of Death: Personal Versus Navajos - Essay Example

Module View of Death: Personal Versus Navajo’s Death is a phenomenon that most cultures do not speak about owing to its mystical nature. Most societies have devised myths and fables to explain things that revolve around it. Its metaphysical ambiguity has held it sacred in many societies across the world. There are several teachings concerning death that a child is taken through whilst they are socialized into their respective cultures. Even with the apparent causes of death that can be scientifically proven, these fables have continually been dearly held by communities.

Practices such as burial of the dead, ceremonies and mourning among others are quite different. Some celebrate a ‘life well lived’ while others are saddened by the demise of a dear friend, family member, or colleague. Personally, cultural socialization has extensively influenced my view of death and how I perceive it may be different from others. This paper seeks to compare my view of death to that of Navajo community. First, the Navajo do not show any ‘special’ concern regarding dead.

It is like once they are gone then their world ceases to exist. This is in contrast with my view as I believe that a person may die but their soul lives on bringing good luck and fortune. The Navajo rebel the dead to an extent that their names should not even be mentioned as they would appear and make someone sick. This indicates that the dead cannot play any important role in bringing for a person fortune. I have grown to know that a close relative or family member like my mother, if dead, would ‘work’ around the clock to ensure I flourish in whatever I am doing.

Consequently, the Navajo’s mourning for the dead goes for four days. That is the standard that is required since the time is enough for the deceased person to transit into the world of the dead. This is also different from understanding as we do not have specific number of days that a person should be given to transform into another ‘being’- a dead being. The mourning might extent depending on the significance that person was. As indicated, burial is amazingly different from most communities, mine included.

The dead are left in some place away from home probably were they are buried so as to separate with their spirits. This is absolutely different and contrasting with my view that the dead are still part of us and deserve an organized sendoff. However, there some similarities that can be pointed out. The fact that death’s explanation is embedded, to some extent, on the religious views aligns with my culture. The ghosts are also explained in my culture as those spirits of people who were never straight with the community’s ideals.

Conclusively, there are several differences that exist between the Navajo’s view of death and mine. From the manner the deceased persons are treated with rejection and little regard to the final send-off, the two are varied incongruent. However there are also shreds of similarities in which basic explanations and views are based on culture and religion. Children in both cases are also taught about death while still young. The diversity is basically caused by the variation in cultures.