Cause of death: a new theme!

A look through the theme of death!

In life, death is inevitable, just like how I was assigned this theme. The theme that I was assigned is death while reading many works over the span of a few weeks varying from short stories, poems, and even a play, I was able to see many different qualities in each work. Many held regret, not wanting to let go, and some even touched on suicide. Of course, death in itself is a very dark theme but once you are reading you can tell from their point of view how they feel about that topic personally. Luckily for me, I prefer darker themes just because they’re easier to form an opinion about, whether it is for it or against it, there is always something to say. When entering this theme I was quite excited, not only because our professor gave us a long time to read through them all, but because of how they were all about a serious topic that many avoid. I would warn but also encourage others to read through this theme, just because of how many are very touchy, but overall it’s a great experience whether you want a deeper look through or maybe a sense of comfort. Remember death is not always a bad thing, it varies on each person so that’s definitely a mindset you need to enter with when reading from this theme. Overall this theme was more of a sad vibe, but of course, that depends on the writers feeling, as some of these works were angry, disappointed, scared, regretful, and overall upset. If you are interested in reading from this theme please comment and ill do my best to recommend you a work that fits what you are looking for.

Death is a tough topic to read and I understand that, but maybe to persuade you I can introduce you to two works that I enjoyed. The first is “If I should learn, in some quite casual way.” by, Edna St. Vincent Millay. This poem was quite unsettling in my opinion but also completely understanding. It starts off by expressing that it was a normal day they casually found out someone they had known had died. Instead of having a normal breakdown or freaking out, they decide to continue on as if its a normal day in public. Personally, this is very understanding at the same time as if it is dark. Someone they had known and love had passed and their first instinct is to continue on, this can be that maybe they were keeping up a public eye and waiting till they get home, but we will never know. Lastly, is “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner. This is a story, that is quite eerie, as it starts off with a foreshadowing beginning of what’s to come. This young lady, Emily, has never dated anyone before and unfortunately, it didn’t help when her father had passed, and she meets a playboy whos only after her money. Of course, as a playboy does he tries to leave and fortunately for you, this isn’t end game and I’m not gonna spoil it. However I will tell you that this story will give you the creeps as its very dark, but I will recommend to you the short movie that was based on it. It is under the same name and stars my queen, Angelica Huston, also know as Morticia Addams. Please let me know in the comments below if you checked these out and what you think of them.

When reading into this theme I did my best to form a connection to my personal life, and thus this theme being death it was extremely easy to. Death is something that EVERYONE has to deal with in their life (unless you’re a vampire). Which means lots of personal connections. I recommend forming a connection to every theme just so it makes it fun to read through, of course, if you can’t just try to find similar situations you have been in and compare how you feel vs the writer. Growing up I’ve seen many family members come and go, and each one was a new experience of emotions. While you are young you don’t really notice it as parents tend to not explain it well so that you can continue having an innocent output of life. Well, that’s how it was for me, of course, though I got older and was able to form deeper connections with people before the heartbreak. At the beginning of junior year, I lost three people in my life, although my relationship with all of them was different and how I felt while it was happening was also different it just proves to me that even though death is a touchy topic its never going to be the same whether is yours or someone else’s experience. Every loss in itself will have a different effect, and you will either grow from it or disappear along with it. Live your life how you want because we never know how long it is going to last. 🙂 (word count: 869)