The meaning of death - Essay Example

Death Introduction The term death refers to the permanent end of life, which is absolutely out of man’s control. Some philosophers argue that whether life is given by choice or by chance, fact remains that death is inventible and every born creature is subject to it. No man will live endlessly. Various publications have been made by well-known authors such as Shirley Jackson among others in trying to understand the meaning of death. However, none of the arguments made gives a clear understanding about it. Popular sayings have been made that relate to death like the popular saying by Francis Bacon (1648) that goes like “death is a friend of man, and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home,” among other interesting ones. This means that man’s search for knowledge about death started long time ago and is still, and will still remain to be a big mystery. Different societies have different myths that try to explain what death is, its origin, life after death among other contentious topics raised relating to it. The lack of answers to these burning questions has led to adoption of religion, an aspect that every single person upholds to. Religion in this case plays a major role in defining death as well as life after death even though different people have different religions. Therefore, despites man’s eager to understand death, it still remain to be a big mystery and it appears as if it is a hard nut that shall never be cracked. All man needs to know and embrace is the bitter fact that death is inevitable and all human beings are subject to it irrespective of the victim’s gender, race, economic status, social classes, age or any other difference that one may ever think of. No one can tell when death will catch up with him or her. It can strike anyone, at any time and at any place. Over a long period of time, man has been searching for the truth about death in desperately way. This can be confirmed from various publications and poetic works such as the popular poems like “I heard a fly buzz” by Emily Dickinson, “suicide note” by Janice Mirikitani as well as Mary Oliver poem entitled “when death comes” just to mention a few. According to Emily Dickinson’s poem, death has been one of the major questions that bother man a lot. Her works is seen to raise numerous questions, which ultimately lack answers. Such contentious questions comprises of the man’s destination when he dies, what happens during the death as well as what man sees during this fateful happening. The fact that no man has been able to answer these questions has made death remain a scary thought that people tend to ignore. It remains a puzzle that no man can solve (Lencioni 62). Emily Dickison appears to be poet who has special interest for death as well as life after death. She has written two poems about death with each poem having different theme and perception about death, a factor that proves that death is a mystery that has no clear analysis. In her poem “I heard a fly buzz- when I died,” Emily portrays the speaker to be eager about death and was always waiting for it. It appears as if the speaker afraid of death at all, and so she was ready to live her life while waiting for it to occur naturally. Man’s failure to understand death has made him to have beliefs in existence of supernatural powers that control life. The speaker in the poem is portrayed to be completely desperate about having any control over her life and is passively waiting for it to take away her life. The tone of the poem also tells that the speaker was quite sure that death was already in the room. At the same time, man’s believe in existence of supernatural power is obvious as the speaker talks about waiting in silence in the room for the king to take her to heaven. The term King in this case is presumed to be referring to God (Parini 100). The speaker also shows that when people are about to die, they are likely to be going through some unique experiences that normal human beings do not undergo. For instance, the speaker talks about hearing the fly buzz which normal human beings would not notice or hear. In this case, hearing seems to be the last sense that remains effective as man dies. The speaker also associates presence of the flies in the room with the close proximity to death. Flies usually fly around dead animals (Parini 100).The question of what man sees while dying remains a puzzle as the speaker says that her eyes closed and she could no longer see anything. She refers to the eyes as windows in this amazing poem. An almost similar scenario of portraying death as a mystery is seen in the Mary Oliver’s poem entitled “When Death Comes.” The speaker imagines death arriving in various ways such as a bear, a disease, and man with a coin purse as well as an iceberg. The speaker appears to be very curious about death to a point of raising numerous questions about the conservative philosophies that existed about death back then. Mary compares human life to a flower that is ordinary in a way as well as being unique in other forms. This confusion automatically reveals that death was still a hard nut for her to crack. Mary also talks of being waiting anxiously to see what happens when death strike, a statement that shows that she kind of thought that death was something visible like a bear or an iceberg. The speaker also portrays death to be completely inevitable as she keeps on talking about “when death comes.” This shows that dying is obvious and guaranteed, a fact she had already embraced. The author also portrays death as a calamity that strikes abruptly without a warning, by claiming that death comes like a hungry bear. Moreover, the author shows that wondering about death is a normal aspect despite the fact that nobody has control over it or knows what it has for man. She also portrays death as a random merciless killer that does not follow any criteria in choosing whom to devour. Since, death is both inevitable, unpredictable and a mystery, the author seems to emphasize on the need for one living his or her life to the fullest while on earth, and fully appreciate life and the world in general while still breathing. Other writing works that have talked about death include that of Janice Mirikitani, a poem that is entitled “Suicide Note.” The poem involves an Asian girl who committed suicide by jumping through the window of the dormitory simply because she was feeling worthless. This feeling had resulted from her parents’ pressure to make her what she was not meant to be. Her parents were demanding good school grades from her, yet she could not achieve them despite her efforts to deliver. The college girl was later found dead with a note giving out reasons for her fateful decision and most importantly an apology for “not pleasing” her parents. The message in the note or the poem in general shows what may trigger human beings to decide to take their lives away. In this poem, life is portrayed to be very short and the element of death taking life at any time is evident. This shows that death is unpredictable as well (Lencioni 62). The author also associates death with numerous elements such as a sparrow that is ready to fly, an aspect that proves that death is a mystery that no man can understand. However, numerous studies and publications express a different opinion about death. Most of these publications are based on religions and to some extent answer some of the questions that the above poems like that Mary Oliver -“when death comes” have portrayed as a puzzle (Kunin 106). Most of the religious books such as the Bible talks about death to some point, and has already answered questions such as what happens after death. A questions that is seen as a big mystery in Oliver’s poem. It talks about internal life after death, an everlasting life that will involve rejoicings or sufferings depending on human activities that one had engage in while on earth. It also talks about death as the loose of human soul among other details. In conclusion, it is obvious that death is a big mystery that no man can figure out. Different people, religious groups, and societies have unsuccessfully come up with various philosophies trying to explain the meaning of death and other associated puzzles revolving around it. As a result, almost all human beings have ended up believing in existence of supernatural powers, a factor that has led to birth of the various religious groups that the world has today. Works CitedTop of Form Kunin, Seth D. “Religion: The Modern Theories.” Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press, 2003. Print. Lencioni, Patrick M. “Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable ... About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business.” San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass, 2013. Internet resource. Parini, Jay. “The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry.” Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. Print. Read More