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death
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That Death is handled differently in literature My theme examines death in the various ways it is handled in literature. The texts I chose reflect the different attitudes towards death. They are “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, “Death of Ivan Illyich” by Tolstoy Leo, and “A Time to Grieve” by Merren Parker. The various ways death is handled in literature often depends on the character’s personality and life experiences. My report outlines four key ways deaths are handled in literature. Death can be a tool for satirical expression. In Death of a Sales man Arthur Miller evokes a dry laugh when one of his characters said “A man can be worth more dead than alive”1. This is the really practical way of looking at death; a man being alive is of no use but dead with hefty life insurance is worth more. A man feeling that he had lived a pointless life found death more worthwhile than living. Further satire is uncovered in Death of Ivan Illyich by Leo Tolstoy. A passage reads “The more intimate of Ivan Illych’s acquaintances, his so called friends, could not help thinking also that they would now have to fulfil the very tiresome demands of propriety by attending the funeral service and paying a visit of condolence to the widow”2 This is comical as we find out that these “so called friends” are rather selfish finding the things they need to do for the deceased “tiresome demand”. The satire makes fun of the common rules and etiquettes, these friends could be “considered” good friends by society by following this rule of attending funeral service and the likes. But by doing it half-heartedly, it’s just as good as doing nothing at all.
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