As I Lay Dying Essays (Examples)

For Faulkner, meaning and the reality of each person is "mutable." In this regard, the novel deals with the themes of identity and existence and the intentions and motivations behind each individual's reasons for undertaking the journey to bury Addie from many different points-of-view.

The images of death and dying tend to add to this search for meaning and identity; for example, Addie's slowly decaying corpse. The death of the mother motivates the family to begin the journey to not only bury her but also as a personal search for meaning. The theme of death also tends to stress that view that we are all in the process of dying and this emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and significance in life.

The novel uses symbols and image to convey its deeper intentions with regard to life, death and identity. e see this aspect in Vardaman's attempt to understand his…

William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
The classic 1930 Novel by William Faulkner, “As I Lay Dying” is a demonstration of the evolution of modernist literature that incorporates an in-depth psychological aspect. The psychoanalytic novel displays the intricacy of the human psyche by attempting to unravel what lays in human minds. The novel presents an emotionally, psychologically and physically distressing journey of a family characteristic by selfishness as they embark. The novel entails a critical inquiry of the psychoanalysis of human minds and their response to tribulations. The novel’s richness in human emotions echoes human nature of self-centeredness that results in divergence in human behavior.
Group dynamisms is vividly and richly drawn in the novella which covers multiple psychological complexities by the characters. The story is narrated in multiple perspectives and covers several human complexities that include characters psychological development, mechanisms of defense and the mourning dynamics. The novella incorporates…

Dying

illiam Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying tells the story of a family living in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. The matriarch of this family, Addie Bundren, is approaching death and her family prepares for this event through various means based upon the personality of that character and the particulars of their relationship with this family member. Upon her death, Addie asks her son to allow her to be buried in Jefferson, Mississippi and a large part of the plot concerns the efforts that the Bundrens must undertake in order to fulfill their mother's dying wish. Addie is at the center of the story and all of the actions of the children, and her husband also, are reflections on this matriarchal figure. More than this, literary scholars have argued that the story is an extended metaphor for the American south in the period following the Civil ar and up to the…

Dying is a unique novel in that there is no discernable protagonist. In lieu of the protagonist is a corpse, Addie, who is dead for most of the book. The novel is written in the first person, from the perspective of Addie and her family, although the perspective shifts for most of the chapters between Addie's self-interested family members with Addie herself only contributing one chapter. Addie's dying wish is to be buried in Jackson, and the story is about how she makes it there. Although Addie is not alive for much of the novel, her son Jewell reflects her interests after she's dead and acts as her legacy.

That the novel is the story of a dead person whose ends will not be met until she reaches her grave is typically thematic of voodoo cultures that existed in Mississippi's colorful history. Another theme is that of the oral tradition…

In the opening paragraph, his detailed physical description of Jewel and him walking on the path exhibits what we soon see is a strong faith that language makes memory, perception, and action real. (Lockyer 74)

She also notes that Darl is the character who speaks the most in the novel, thus showing his adherence to the value of language in his actions as well as his words. In doing so, she says, "he displays the omniscience, verbal range, and responsibility for interpretation that we associate with a narrator" (Lockyer 74). hat Darl says also solidifies the view that Addie has been isolated and has also been deceived by her former faith in words. Faulkner develops a range of views of language and its use and of the degree to which different characters express their own relationship with language.

Lockyer discusses this further and cites Mikhail Bakhtin on the novel to…

1). For Lester, the novel is a novel of migration and the ambiguous benefits of Southern culture and traditions: when Addie demands that her family lay her body "to rest forty miles away, in Jefferson, where her relatives are buried" her "request places a burden on her family, who subsist on limited means as small farmers and occasional wage laborers in rural Northern Mississippi in the late 1920s" (Lester 2005, p.1). he burden upon the family of social obligations is a heavy one: they must honor the past and custom, but Addie's body becomes a heavy weight to bear, just as the ties that bind them together are heavy and strangle one another, physically, emotionally, and economically.

Marc Hewson of he Mississippi Quarterly offers a feminist reading of the book. he centrality of Addie and her profound influence upon her sons forces the reader to question Southern patriarchal norms: "he…

It is thus that he helps to establish the truly tragic abstractions that characterize the family's individual experiences. here a broad, unilateral overview of the story might direct the reader's focus to the burial plot, an objective set of narratives articulated by the character's themselves suggests that Faulkner intends the story more as a lamentation for the living.

In As I Lay Dying, Faulkner delivers a treatise on the American condition too often unconsidered in either the literary or the public forums. The Bundrens can be considered less a family comprised of actual individuals as a unit of caricatures. The characters are altogether conflicted by selfishness and emotional ambivalence, divided by an unrefined sense of loyalty and an incapacity to truly experience mourning and relentlessly driven to their goal even as they are guided by cloudy ambitions. In this regard, it is difficult to even determine that Faulkner finds redemption…

But since their sense of righteousness is flawed, their plans fall apart and the ending is quite disastrous as owe explains: "When they reach town, the putrescent corpse is buried, the daughter fails in her effort to get an abortion, one son is badly injured, another has gone mad, and at the very end, in a stroke of harsh comedy, the father suddenly remarries" (138).

Addie and Cora represent two different versions of right. For Cora faith is on lips all the time and she expresses righteousness through words, for Addie, actions are more important and thus she appears vain compared to Cora but has a deeper and more accurate sense of right and wrong. While Cora appears with utterances such as "I trust in my God and my reward" (70) and "Riches is nothing in the face of the Lord, for e can see into the heart." (7) Addie…

WWI and Literature

World War I was certainly one of the most productive periods in literature with millions of poets and authors emerging on the scene and each one contributing tremendously to the growth and progress of literature. It is quite strange that while WWI was a deeply disturbing and a largely horrifying experience for most countries, it inspired writers and poets around the globe and this resulted in significant growth of world literature.

In England alone, more than 2000 poets emerged during this period as Harvey (1993) elaborates: "From the very first week, the 1914-18 war inspired enormous quantities of poetry and fiction. The claim that three million war poems were written in Germany in the first six months of hostilities is difficult to substantiate, but Catherine W. eilly has counted 2,225 English poets of the First World War, of whom 1,808 were civilians. For example, William Watson (then…

It shows the selfishness of Dewey Dell, who is only concerned about her pregnancy and gives other family members little thought. It shows the long-suffering, to the point of self-immolation, of Cash. It shows the rivalry of Darl and Jewel, both vying for their dead mother's affection. And it shows the innocent simplicity, bordering on mental instability, of the young Vardaman. Each of these family members was affected in different ways by this destructive family dynamic.

Anse, in one of the most telling passages in the book regarding his relationship to the family, goes down the list of family members and whines about how each has cost him money in some way, further complaining that he has to work, when he does so, even though he doesn't have any teeth (35-37). Wadlington argues that because the story is set in the south and Anse is the "master" of the house,…

When pushed too far, when too greatly damaged, when the soul has been taken away, when the resilience is gone, all that is left is the act of birth, the cold and empty soul, and a generalized feeling of resentment and anger coming from mother and directed at life and history and the self. Faulkner's Addie's rotting body is an act of revenge, Eva's burning of her son is an act of insanity, both seek the harm of those closest to them, because their disappointment in life is so profound, and they are so utterly trapped in their surroundings, that being a good and wholesome person, being a healthy, nurturing mother, is simply no longer possible. This, then, is the nature of the South for both authors, and it is that nature which tells us that until the bodies are buried, and the souls put to rest, and the corrupted…

Dickson had to deal with a few close relationships end in death, including that of her father, (Crumbley, 2000). Due to her nature of solitude, a death hit Dickenson hard. In her writing she tends to obsess over the act of dying. Much of her poetry features a first person narrator speaking about the actual experience of dying, "I hear a Fly buzz - when I died," (Dickson, 111). The grief she feels from the death of a loved one in a very personal way, so much so that she envisions experiencing her own death over and over again in several of her poems. She internalizes the grief of death into an obsession with the act of dying, "And then the indows failed - and then / I could not see to see," (112).

illiam Shakespeare presents a King who had his Queen killed, and the devastating affects of overzealousness…

high degree of misinformation I had received from traditional teachings about the church and the beginning of Christianity. Moreover, I was struck by the notion that most other people in the Western world receive this same degree of intentional misinformation, so much so that I have even heard people defend the idea that knowledge of the historical church is irrelevant to modern Christianity. Reading through the class material, I was struck by how critical this historical information was to the understanding of the actual church. One critical piece of information is the idea of Jesus as the head of the church, despite him not establishing Christianity as a separate religion. Another critical idea was that prophets could play a continuing role in Christianity, when my traditional understanding had suggested that after Jesus there would be no more Jewish prophets. I also found myself wondering about the very obvious and significant…

stand proud as you can see, I've survived and thrived and lived

Sometimes I have erred but other times I did succeed

I've reached a level in my life where there is less want and need

There are good memories behind me and many sad ones too

Things that I've regretted and moments I stood tall

A life is made of both, harshest times and all

Everyone I think of had issues just like mine

Maybe different circumstances and others they've done wrong

Harming people harming self and forgetting all along

If I be you then maybe I can understand my self

Or perhaps there is no understanding only something else.

I see others walking all around their phone clenched in their hand

No one's talking to each other and I cannot understand

Inhumanity is normal; a robot; a machine

My nightmares every single night; what is the dream I…

Childhood Home

The house I lived in when I was a child lay quietly shaded by forty acres of trees. In the springtime, we would hear the soft tapping of the newly sprouting leaves in the wind. The summer would come with the pervading squeal of tree frogs that could be heard when eating a Popsicle on the deck or answering the phone, when we would have to cover up one ear to help stop the noise. In the autumn, the leaves of these trees would drift lazily down to earth by the dozens. And even in winter, when the leaves were under the snow and it seemed that even the trees great lives were stagnant, their shadows would loom over and calm the glare of the bleach-white snow.

Although everyone lived amongst them, we, the children of the neighborhood, owned the trees and woods. At least that was how…

Armstrong's findings additionally relate that due to previous research and the influence of perinatal loss on postpartum depression on partnered relationships. Armstrong states that differences in continued psychological stress between mothers and fathers after a subsequent birth is another area requiring further evaluation. Specifically stated is that it is necessary to evaluate "...the strength of partnered relationships during future childbearing experiences is important to identify any potential influence of the loss on couple, as well as family, outcomes. Understanding possible gender differences may help neonatal nurses and other healthcare providers to recognize couples at risk for discord." (2007)

Neonatal nurses are those who work closely with infants and parents and in the best position to make identification of depression and to pose questions about the individuals symptoms including:

1) mood;

2) appetite;

3) energy or fatigue levels;

4) ability to concentrate; and 5) as well the neonatal nurse is in…

Mary tells arren that home is the "place where, when you have to go there, / They have to take you in" (122-3). This displeases arren because he does not feel Silas deserves to call their home his own. arren is not convinced and as he discusses Silas' brother with Mary, he claims Silas is "worthless" (149). Here we see how arren thinks people should earn most of the things they have in life, including a place to call their own. Mary, on the other hand, understands Silas' need to feel as though he has returned to a safe place to spend his last days. ith Silas at "home" she has hope for the future, even though Silas' state is grim.

Through irony, Frost also demonstrates how we all die alone despite our best efforts. Silas returns to a place he knew as home but in the end, arren and…

Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway, and a passage in "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," by J.D. Salinger.

IMITATE SHORT PASSAGES BY HEMINGWAY AND SALINGER

Hemingway's short, staccato style and "macho" man image has often been parodied, reviewed, and dissected. "The Sun Also Rises" has been called one of his best books. This passage parodies Hemingway's macho style, and outlook on women as the weaker sex.

Paris again, and another broad in another taxi. How do I get myself into these things? Last thing I knew, I was in Pamplona, running with the big dogs. Now, I'm in a taxi with Brett, who's married to somebody else, and flirting with me. She's not half bad looking for a dame. Maybe I should just kiss her. Let her know I'm interested. What the hell. "Don't touch me, please don't touch me," she says to me, and I'm a pretty damned good…

Gender in omeo and Juliet

Judith Lorber, author of "Night to his Day: The Social Construction of Gender" asserts that gender is not biologically determined, but is a construct of society. This would indicate that the process of socialization is a prime determinant in the development of gender. In other words, how a child is raised will determine his or her gender-based behavior. With this theory in mind, it is interesting to examine traditional gender roles in literature; to examine how literature of the past treated the traditional roles of male and female. William Shakespeare's omeo and Juliet is one of the most famous works of literature in Western culture. It was written around the end of the 1500's, at a time when actors were exclusively male, and therefore all the women's roles would have been played by men. This alone would be enough to base a discussion on the…

The fact that this figure remains a guess says something important about what orrison was up against in trying to find out the full story of the slave trade. uch of that story has been ignored, left behind, or simply lost.

Through her works she attempted to retell the stories of grief associated with slavery and terror, her characters living their lives with greater understanding of its value than almost any other set of characters in fiction today.

Within the genre of the autobiography there is a different tenor of thought the words and deeds are that of the author and the message is clearly self, devolvement. Angelou in the Heart of a Woman demonstrates the ideals of her time, as a civil rights organizer and protestor. She clearly spells out the strife that exists between whites, and blacks and the dangerous dance they are doing during what most would…

Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

The play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare has a story that revolves around the main themes of revenge and search for the truth. Shakespeare's male characters, in particular, are portrayed somewhat villainously because of the element of revenge inherent in each character's motivations in the play. Among the male characters in the play, the characters of Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras emerge as the most remarkable among the numerous character in Shakespeare's piece. Many characteristics are shared among these three primary male characters. The first characteristic is that they possess the vitality of their youth, and the second one is that all of them face the world in an idealistic and somewhat naive perspective. Their being young, naive, and idealistic are the main reasons why, throughout the play, they have resorted to radical actions and behavior that will cause either their victory or downfall.

This paper will conduct…

How could that be true when that child was left in the woods to die?

Oedipus is calmed, but he still sets out to solve the murder-mystery and punish the man who committed regicide. As more details come to the surface, however, Oedipus starts to get a bad feeling. The evidence indeed points to him: Laius, he learns, was slain at the same crossroads where Oedipus took the lives of a group of men. as Laius among them? Apparently so…as Oedipus also learns that he was the babe whom Jocasta and Laius abandoned -- and indeed has grown up to ruin the house by killing his father and marrying and having children with his mother Jocasta. Jocasta (sensing that this might be the case) had pleaded for Oedipus to halt the investigation, but determined to know the truth, Oedipus called the herdsman who found him tied to a tree to…

Kilimanjaro

For many critics, no other short story by Ernest Hemingway is as overtly autobiographical as the Snows of Kilimanjaro. Richard Hovey goes as far to say that the story "must have been (Hemingway's) effort to purge himself of long-accumulated guilts" (83).

This paper examines how the parallels between the story's protagonist Harry and Hemingway reveal a theme of the conflict between financial comfort and the artistic calling. It shows how Hemingway depicts a writer, literally rotting from within, as he reflects on his own moral corruption and the loss of his artistic integrity.

As the story begins, the reader quickly learns that the protagonist, a writer named Harry, is dying. A scratch sustained earlier has become infected and has poisoned his blood, causing a gangrenous infection. Harry knows that death was coming, but he could no longer muster any horror or fear. Instead, all he feels is "a great…

Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life

"He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the priest establishes a mandate for Christian Living. Historically, at the Last Supper, Christ used bread and wine as a supreme metaphor for the rest of our lives. Jesus was in turmoil. He was aware of what was about to befall him -- namely, suffering and death. This was the last major lesson he would teach before his arrest following Judas' betrayal. Eschatologically speaking, the above set the stage for the Christian ministry of the apostles, evangelists and priests. Indeed, every Christian is called to give of him or herself for the Glory of God and the Glory of Mankind. The message at the Last Supper was powerful. People have put themselves through…

large book about a stone, would you be interested? Probably not, but if they are talking about the "Story of the Stone" by Cao Xueqin, then you are definitely in for a treat.

The story begins in the Land of Illusion where we learn the tale of the Stone and the Crimson Pearl Flower through the story of the two Priests, one of who is a Taoist and the other Buddhist. The Buddhist picks up a solitary stone and talks to it, and so we learn the story of "The Stone" which then sets the tale for what happens later in the story in the 'real' world. The connection here is made when the Stone says[to the Priest], "What you say is indeed true...my poor story is adorned by no rhetorical flourish nor literary art....but the world of mortals being what it is...I cannot but think that the tale here…

" The 'number' of witnesses later turned out to be a single witness who was not even sure about who he saw at the window.

Palm prints on the cardboard box: Similarly Oswald's palm prints were said to have been found on a cardboard box found at the window of the depository building from which Oswald allegedly shot Kennedy. Oswald's prints were not found anywhere else in the room except on a 'convenient' carton that could easily find its way to the police station where Oswald was kept in custody. (Lane,

Rifle Capability

Apart from these, not insignificant, inconsistencies in the "evidence" presented by the Dallas Attorney General, it is highly unlikely that Oswald, using the Carcano, could have shot with the accuracy and speed required at a moving target.

According to the arren Commission that investigated Kennedy's assassination, three shots were fired from the Depository window, the first and…

Heracles (means glory of Hera) is best known as the strongest of all mortals and considered as super hero on a grand scale. He is much stronger compared to other Gods. He was the deciding factor in allowing the Olympian Gods to win their battle with the giants. He was the last mortal son of Zeus. He is the only man born of mortal woman to become a god upon his death.

Offsetting his strength was a noticeable lack of intelligence or wisdom. Once when he became too hot he pulled his bow out and threatens to shoot the sun. This coupled with strong emotions in one so powerful frequently got Heracles in trouble. While his friend and cousin Theseus ruled Athens, Heracles had trouble ruling him. His pride was easily offended. He took up grudges easily and never forgot them. His appetites for food, wine, and women were as…

Mozart: Composer for the Ages

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg. His full name as recorded on his Baptismal certificate is (in Latin) Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilis Amadeus Mozart. Though seven children were born in the family only Wolfgang and his elder sister survived infancy. Both were instructed in the ways of music by their father. Wolfgang showed early signs of being a prodigy.

His father Leopold was a music teacher and composer and passed on his love of music to his son, encouraging both of his children to perform. Mozart surprised his father at an early age by drafting his own composition, without encouragement (Deutsch, 1965).

Leopold took the children on extensive tours of Europe, having them perform in the Bavarian, Vienna, and Prague Courts. The duo was the equivalent of today's child-stars. Their touring led Mozart to meet important musicians like J.C. Bach. In ome,…

Alexander saw himself as that philosopher-king who would install a new kind of cooperation and brotherhood with one or unified Greek culture, Hellenism, and speaking a common language, Greek (Smitha 1998). He intended that his subjects in the East would be reared and trained to become like the Greeks and Macedonians.

In consolidating his huge territory, Alexander founded cities, mostly named Alexandria, in suitable and well-paved locations with sufficient supply of water. His army veterans, young men, merchants, traders and scholars settled there, infused Greek culture and, through them, the Greek language widely flourished. Through his mighty victories and territorial control, Alexander thus spread Greek civilization and paved the way for the incoming Hellenistic kingdoms and the conquest of the Roman Empire (Microsoft 2004).

He also felt that trade would unite his empire more strongly and so he forced new commercial possibilities and made abylon the center of brisk world…

This person proved to be an honest and God-loving individual who is actually concerned about my well-being and the well-being of other slaves. He brought me a pair of glasses and a book called "Uncle's Tom Cabin" yesterday. I could never understand why many white people in the South can't abandon slavery in spite of the fact that they know that it's wrong, but I am satisfied knowing that they treat their slaves well. I could not stop reading the book ever since I laid eyes on it. I have been awake for almost two days now and I am infuriated with the institution of slavery in general, even with the fact that I did not experience the suffering it provoked from a first-hand perspective.

Some friends of my master visited today and had a fiery conversation as a result of Abraham Lincoln's reelection. My abolitionist friend seemed to agree…

Faulkner looking at the rhythms, sounds and underlying meanings.

The Unremorseful Day

The poem as read from a simple standing does not make complete sense it jumps from one aspect to another John is dying yet Joe is reading the story yet who is telling the story, there is a definite obscurity to the way the narrator gives his views, from the dying of John to the eating and preparing of food to the death of John.

There is no regular rhythm to the poem it falls into the lines of a disjointed dirge for the funeral march, the book seems of no interest to the narrator at all it seems as if the book is boring and has no consequence at all to the life of this man. In fact it can be seen that the book does not make any sense to the narrator at all even though…

Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." Specifically, it will choose one instance of abstraction in the work, and describe what the author is trying to "get at," through that abstraction. What is he trying to suggest? What methods is he using to do so? Does it "work" for you? Why or why not?

Abstraction in Poetry

In "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock," T.S. Eliot writes in many abstractions, but there is one at the end, which is especially poignant and full of meaning. "I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. / I do not think that they will sing to me. / I have seen them riding seaward on the waves / Combing the white hair of the waves blown back / When the wind blows the water white and black. / We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By sea-girls…

" This action according to Humphrey allows personal responsibility for family decision making to be broadened to a reasonable level.

Humphrey also lays strong claims for the medical responsibilities of euthanasia because of the overemphasis on life-support to prolong human suffering rather than allow certain and peaceful death. Humphrey's believes that the medical community needs be an example to individuals by stopping making decisions for the family based on technological progress of aggressive treatments. "People dread having their loved ones put on such equipment if it means they are never likely to be removed if that proves later to be the mores sensible coarse." (155) in short, Humphries contends that passive euthanasia is a personal and private responsibility and that the medical responsibility lies in stepping back and allowing individuals to make such decisions without fear of reprisal.

Ledermans's more personal account is of herself having to make decisions for…

In point of fact, the article did not even provide enough information concerning whether control had really been lost, or if the new headstone fad was just that; a fad. The article was successful in providing information that a trend seems to be developing for the more eccentric individuals in society, and that trend is to be more creative in death than what has been acceptable in the past, but the article does not answer the implied question 'will this lead to a mass movement in tombstone creativity?' Or if the trend will continue to be confined to the relatively small portion of the dying public that it now concerns?

At one point in the article one of the interviewees told the story of how a widow called him to have a headstone hauled away a few days after the deceased had been laid to rest. The interviewee said, "I…

However, conventional beliefs that there is low rate for African-American involvement in suicidal activities, there exists minimal focus on learning the possible suicide patterns among African-Americans. Social workers are not aware of the risks and protectiveness among African-Americans. This gives room for misinterpretation of facts concerning self-destructive activities of African-Americans. The research further stresses the importance of social workers to the study of suicide among African-Americans. They also have the capacity for influencing national policies and strategies for the mitigation of suicidal cases. Through the research, it was evident that there exists extremely little information about the empirical knowledge of social workers practicing in this sector with regard to the works featured by the social work researchers.

With the evidently increasing need for social workers, it is necessary to study the capacities of knowledge of social workers regarding issued of suicide. This is relevant to the increase of social workers…

Typically a Japanese funeral follows the sequence: when someone dies, they are placed to rest in their homes. The corpse was placed with the head pointing the North, copying the deathbed of Gautama, and the head of the bed is well decorated. Then the previously mentioned encoffinment process. The first night after one's death is called the Tsuya; and it is for close family and friends to remember their beloved. In the morning, a cleansing meal is served called Okiyome. The funeral is thereafter carried out where the Jukai rite also known as receipt of commandments gives the dead an opportunity to receive the Buddhist commandments, automatically making the dead a disciple of the Buddha, and the dead person is accepted into Buddha hood.

After all this, the deceased embarks on the journey to the other world as the coffin is carried out of the house and burnt in a…

But he didn't tell me that my aunt would help them do it'" (Gaines, 79). Grant believes at this point that dignity is something he can only find -- and is supposed to find -- outside of his community and away from the relationships and ties that he has there, including his maternal bond to his aunt.

As the novel progresses, however, Grant begins to realize how necessary the community is to his own happiness, if not his very survival. This transformation is not complete by the end of the novel, but Grant has begun to change or at least question many of his beliefs, including his attitude towards God and religion, and certainly in his attitude, hopes, and feelings for Jefferson. Perhaps most telling in Grant's search for dignity and identity within his community is his relationship with Vivian. Though she is still married and the relationship is therefore…

puritan life was heavily contaminated by death. Half of the original 102 pilgrims that settled in America died during the first winter and it was not uncommon for children to perish before they reached adolescence. Funerals were a common occurrence in everyday life and the air of towns was often littered with the sounds of church bells. From the early stages of learning, children were educated on the grim reality that they faced and if they were fortunate enough to grow up, their demise still followed them wherever they ventured to. Puritan religion explains that a person is unable to control their destiny. Their ascendance to heaven or hell is pre-determined before the time of their birth and their actions in life have no influence on their final destination.

Although her lifetime took place more than two centuries after their arrival, Emily Dickinson presented poetry that offered views on death…

"

Hamlet seems particularly interested with this idea of holding a mirror to the reality of situations to betray their alliances with death. He uses the same metaphor when speaking to the players: "the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to show Virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure."

The play which Prince Hamlet stages is vitally important not only in that it is a mirror and reflection of sorts, but also because it is in itself art. A great deal of fuss is made in the text about the proper form of the art of playing, as if to highlight that it's artistic merit were important to the story. This may be because putting the death of the…

Freedom of choice includes the right to die and the right to choose assisted suicide.

3. An older argument in favor of assisted suicide that has been recently resurfaced with the implementation of a national health care bill could be termed the "economics argument" which states that the costs of keeping people alive who are going to die anyway is exceedingly high, higher than the benefit that the money and energy to maintain life bring. Life prolonged unnecessarily is costly to society and that money and those resources are being wasted and could be used more productively.

4. In essence, the final common argument us used in a number of legal and ethical situations and pretty much states that assisted suicide is already being performed in many hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes by physicians and nurses. It makes sense to formally legalize it so people will not have to sneak…

The quality of life was another issue addressed in research of the use of feeding tubes with patients who have dementia (Finucane, 2001).

obert MCCann, MD reports that the everyday imagery of food and its pleasant addition to life cannot be ignored in the discussion of removing natural nutrition and using a feeding tube.

McCann reminds the medical community that the image of a family gathered around the Thanksgiving table, interacting and nurturing each other through the meal presents an entirely different image than an elderly person suffering from dementia alone in a bed in a nursing home with a tube inserted into their stomach. The imagery of food and its measurable impact on a person's life must be accurately envisioned for the decision to be made according to McCann (Finucane, 2001).

McCann studied Hospice cancer patients who were in the end stage of life. According to his research it…

African-American males between the ages of 15 and 24 are at relatively higher risk of suicide according to Center for Disease control and prevention. Since 1980s the suicide rate has increased tremendously and many young seemingly successful males are committing suicide following years of suffering from chronic depression. Such cases highlight the importance of recognizing signs of depression young males but since researches and studies do not always reach parents on time, they fail to stay on top of it. This is how Gina Smallwood felt when in 2008 her young son shot himself right before his 20th birthday. (Thomas, 2009) Gina had no idea Kelvin was at the risk of suicide or that there were any statistics that placed African-American youth at greater risk of suicide. Instead she felt that since her son had been an honor student and had a bright future ahead of it; suicide would be…

believing that death means nothing to us, since every good and every evil lies in sensation; but death is the privation of sensation. Hence a correct comprehension of the fact that death means nothing to us makes the mortal aspect of life pleasurable, not be conferring on us a boundless period of time but by removing the yearning for deathlessness. There is nothing fearful in living for the person who has really laid hold of the fact that there is nothing fearful in not living. So it is silly for a person to say that he dreads death -- not because it will be painful when it arrives but because it pains him now as a future certainty; for that which makes no trouble for us when it arrives is a meaningless pain when we await it. This, the most horrifying of evils, means nothing to us, then, because so…

Wuthering

"Catherine's face was just like the landscape -- shadows and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was more transient..." Chapter 27,

This quote reveals a strong metaphor, describing Catherine's face as being "just like the landscape." Doing this not only provides brilliant imagery but also links Catherine to the land, and to her home, prevalent themes in Bronte's work. Catherine has essentially become spiritually one with the land in which she lives, anchoring her in geographic space and time. All issues of ownership of property, especially given Heathcliff's use of property ownership as a means to assert his political and social power, revert to Catherine.

Moreover, Bronte is sure to point out that the landscape of Catherine's face is filled with "shadows and sunshine," which are "flitting over it in rapid succession." This is an extension of the metaphor, showing…

Psychology

Application of E. Kubler-oss Theory to eal Life Loss

Kubler-oss Theory

Stages of Bereavement in relation to eal Life Loss

Elizabeth Kubler-oss posits a theory that the process of loss and grief can be measured in seven distinct steps - shock, denial, anger, negotiation, depression, acceptance, and hope. While these stages may be in any order and can amount to any length of time to progress and advance to the next level, its significance is shown in the application of this theory to a real-life situation concerning the death of a loved one. This paper endeavours to explore each of the seven stages as outlined in the E. Kubler-oss theory. Its application is also conducted on a real-life tragedy I experienced as a teenager when my childhood friend passed away. The stages of grief and loss in the E. Kubler-oss theory does much to convey that the whole process…

This sentence, although it talks about bowels, is really describing the mother's love of the baby.

This story is written like a detective story. It is very difficult to determine which woman is telling the truth and to determine if King Solomon is actually a bad person or a good person. It does not give the names of the women. They are simple referred to as one woman and the other woman. It does say that they were "harlots," but it does not give any background information about who the women are or how they got involved in this argument. They were simply two women in the same place that had babies at the same time.

Also, it is not clear to the reader rather King Solomon is a bad person or a good person. He does propose to slay the baby and divide it into two half to settle…

Bereavement

The interest in palliative care, or counseling for bereavement comes to different people in different ways, and one doctor came into it through home care as long ago as 1975. The doctor had just finished working as a house staff in the University of California in San Francisco. Then he got a job at Massachusetts General Hospital as a physician. The doctor was placed at Chelsea Memorial health Center. This was a neighborhood health center in a poor multi-ethnic community, yet not a great distance away from MGH. The doctor had come to replace a person who had come from Britain for a working experience of a year in United States and had gone to the houses of a few elderly patients. In the beginning itself, it was suggested to the doctor by the senior that he visit two patients who were being cared by relatives at home. This…

Jung and auditory hallucinations

Meyer (2003), in a discussion of Jungian symbolism in the movie, Spider-Man, notes that both masks and voices are essential to the movement of heroic characters through the plotline. Meyer is not, however, a psychologist, nor even an anthropologist; rather, she is a write about communications. Still, her work on Spider-Man tied several of the movie's themes to Jungian thought.

Halifax's work goes farther in bringing Jungian thought into the mainstream of psychological study. His work with shamans and shamanic ritual, important subjects to Jungians, posited aspects of schizophrenia in the initiatory journey of the shaman. Halifax cited Julian Silverman's conclusions in which schizophrenia was characterized as a disorder in which the "individual withdraws form society and the outer world and becomes preoccupied by internal processes with a resulting disintegration of the personality. The symptoms, broadly described, include autism and unreal ideation, disturbed perception and thinking,…

Dylan Thomas

Understanding a poem is a matter of first and foremost understanding the poet. The individual poet's choice of words and emotions which grab the reader, make a connection, and then deliver an emotional message which leaves a lasting message can be achieved through a number of techniques. But the poet who achieves a lasting memory in the minds of hearts of his readers is a person who approached the pen and ink often from a radically different perspective or with an emotional charge to his life that others not only find fascinating, but envy. Such is the case of Dylan Thomas, a Welshman with a known history of avid drinking, little self-discipline, and a penchant for over-indulgence which lead him to an early grave.

As a young child, Thomas loved the written word. He began writing his first poems at 8 or 9, while his attention was fixed…

This reveals the more liberated ideals of the west and of the pioneer culture. First, Alexandra envisions herself "being lifted and carried lightly by some one very strong. He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain." The masculine figure takes the place of the gossamer female angel. She is about to be subsumed by the ethereal lover. "hen he laid her down on her bed again, she opened her eyes, and, for the first time in her life, she saw him, saw him clearly, though the room was dark, and his face was covered." Here, gender roles are again reversed as they are in the previous passage when the man is the angel. The man is now being veiled, his "face was covered." Veil is usually used to conceal the woman's but not the man's…

However, prayer is not simply a reflection of a request made of God; it also demonstrates the depth of someone's desire to attain a goal. Atheists fall to their needs and beg God when confronted with a dying child or other major catastrophe. Those prayers do not necessarily reflect a newfound belief in God, but the level of desperation and desire that the person is experiencing. Therefore, prayer reflects more than a request; it also reflects the depth of a person's desire to attain a need.

Because prayer serves multiple functions, it seems fair to suggest that people who do not get things that they want and need may need to consider prayer. Prayer, if nothing else, is a designated period of contemplative thought. Prayer can help reveal the steps that a person should take in order to attain certain goals. Prayer can be motivational, giving a person the energy…

Spousal and Child Abuse

Child and spousal abuse is an intentional act that results in physical and/or emotional or psychological injury on a child or spouse (or partner) by a parent or a mate, respectively (Gelles 2004). In a child, abuse more often takes the form of neglect. Child and spousal abuse and violence are major social concerns today.

The extent that children are abused by their parents or adult caretakers is difficult to measure, although it appears to occur most frequently among lower-income communities and certain ethnic and religious minorities. Abuse of children ranges from physical and emotional abuse and sexual abuse to physical and emotional neglect (Gelles). Effects of physical abuse are varied and visible: unexplained bruises, fractures and burn marks. Emotional abuse destroys the child's sense of security and self-esteem. Sexual abuse includes all acts that expose them to the sexual satisfaction of the parent or adult…

In this excerpt, her mature medicine woman attitude shows clearly that she has grown up. That doesn't mean that she isn't attracted sexually to Set, but there is a reverence now and an appreciation for his needs that perhaps readers didn't see previously. And on page 297 the desire that Set feels for Grey is a sweeter, more casual lead-in to sexual foreplay. "Their hands slipped over their bodies, describing desire, but yet discreetly." They both have grown by now.

As for the characters' achievement of modern American Indian identity, the way it interfaces the history of the Old est (to wit, Billy the Kid) with modern tends to bring the fictional aspect of the book into a brighter spotlight than Native American cultural reality. Grey's character, in particular, reveals some truth about medicine and how Indians understand that medicine comes to them. And as Karen allace writes in her…

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Specifically it will discuss the self-discovery Marlow encounters on his journey through Africa. Marlow's journey from England to Africa and back to Europe is a journey of self-discovery and adventure. He encounters greed, savagery, and indifference along his journey, and he encounters prejudice, imperialism, and a new understanding of himself along the way, as well. In the end, he recognizes he is a changed man who no longer sees the world or himself in the same way.

Throughout the book, Marlow recognizes, as he looks back on his experiences, that he was on a journey of self-discovery on his trip to Africa. Literary critic Harold Bloom notes, "But Marlow reiterates often enough that he is recounting a spiritual voyage of self-discovery. He remarks casually but crucially that he did not know himself before setting out, and that he likes work for the chance it…

Jews and Jewish eligion

Judaism is one of the revealed religions of the world and like Islam and Christianity; this religion also endorses the concept of monotheism. Being one of the oldest monotheist religions, Judaism has a long history but throughout this history, its basic beliefs, traditions, sacred texts and rituals have remained more or less the same.

Monotheism in Judaism

Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism is one of the most well-known monotheist religions. Monotheistic means believing in one God. Unlike some other religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jewish religion believes in the existence of one single God who is the source of all power in the world. In Torah, God says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)

Jewish people tend to believe that there is one Supreme Being that controls the whole world and our destinies. Over…

This is the same in our lives, because if we remain steadfast in out faith, our suffering can only serve to further God's work in our lives. Paul's example also highlights our responsibilities to each other, because through our own example we can help other Christians that might be facing the same kind of difficulty as us.

In the next few passages, Paul goes on to discuss something that has undoubtedly crossed the mind of any Christian facing extreme difficult, which is the idea that it might just be better to be done with the world and live eternally in heaven. Paul says that "for to me, living is Christ and dying is gain," to the point that "I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you"…

Ethics -- "History and Good." It gives a summary and analysis of the chapter, besides a short introduction on the author and the book.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German theologian firmly believed that the foundation of ethical behavior lay in the reality of the world and the reality of God -- both being reconciled in the reality of Christ. All his life, he called for "responsible" action against evil and was sharply critical of ethical theories, which avoided such direct action. Bonhoeffer lived and practiced his ethical beliefs by confronting the evil of Hitler's Nazism that he saw rising at close range in his home country. His uncompromising stance against the Nazis ultimately cost him his life when he was arrested in 1943 for his part in a conspiracy against Hitler and was hanged in the weeks before Hitler's own suicide and the end of the Second World War in Europe.…

There are many of these individuals, and it is time that this is changed.

Parents often look away from these kinds of problems, or they spend their time in denial of the issue because they feel that their child will not be harmed by parental involvement with drugs or alcohol. Some parents have parents that were/are addicts themselves, and some are so busy with their lives that they do not actually realize that their child has any kind of problem with the lifestyle of the parent until it becomes so severe that it cannot be overlooked, or until it is brought to their attention by police, the school, or someone else that has seen it first hand. Parents are not the only ones that overlook this issue, though.

Sometimes siblings and friends also see problems that they ignore, do not understand, or do not talk to anyone about, and the…

Falstaff

The Bard, illiam Shakespeare, is considered the most important playwright of the European Renaissance, if not the most important of all time. One of the reasons for his illustrious position in the world of literary studies is the characterizations that he creates in all of his plays. Each character is uniquely defined and highly memorable. Many of his characters are fictional but even the ones that are based on historical figures are portrayed with individual personalities in the Shakespearean versions of their lives. In Henry IV, Part I, Shakespeare illustrates a mythical version of one of the past Kings of England and how he developed from an immature young man into an idealistic and impervious ruler, capable of leading men both on the battlefield and in times of peace. The eponymous Henry, or Prince Hal as he is less formally called, is joined in his early debauchery by a…

economic value of human life. The writer takes the reader on an exploratory journey through several methods used to calculate that value as well as other theories about calculating that value. There were four sources used to complete this paper.

Worldwide it has been said that people are becoming more materialistic than ever before. It seems that everything now has a tangible value that can be computed in dollars and cents. Insurance companies want a dollar value placed on the most sentimental items one owns, while things once belonging to celebrities command a high fee at auctions and promotions. In addition to individual items being assessed individual values, abstract ideas are also assigned values through dollars. Consultants, writers, and others are paid for their ideas and their intellectual property in the same way that someone purchases a new couch for the living room. Throughout history people have placed value on…