Death is an unapologetic force of nature. Death is certain for everybody, no one is safe from It. So, why do we fear It as much as we do? Is it because even though It might be certain, we’re not? To clarify, I mean we’re not certain on what life (or death) is like on the other side of the spectrum. We know one side; our side. It makes sense though, doesn’t it? Everyone is so scared of the unknown, but for why? If you really think about it, Death is similar to a period. It is the ending of something, and right after that ends a whole new sentence pops up. It’s just a big cycle. That is the literal sense of death, But Death can also just be a metaphor, or a feeling. When I say feeling, I don’t mean you “feel” dead, what I mean is you can feel like you have mourned a friendship that was lost or anything related to that.

I think a great example of people being scared of Death and the uncertainty of it is Elegy for My Father Who is Not Dead, by Andrew Hudgins. The son is not ready to die, even though the father is the complete opposite. The father is ready to go, but the son still has life to live. I think that is also another reason why people are scared to die, they feel as if they haven’t lived life to the fullest. Which in many cases, people haven’t. Most people are creatures of habit and, sadly, sometimes those habits and boundaries keep us from living our best lives.

On the other side of the “not wanting to die” spectrum, is the “want to die” part, and this is where Night Mother, by Marsha Norman, fits right in. In Night Mother, Jessie wants to die. It’s quite ironic when you think about it, this whole blog was about how people don’t want to die partly because their life was unfulfilled, but Jessie WANTS to die BECAUSE her life was unfulfilled. It’s very contradicting, but hey, life (or death) is funny like that. Anywho, she feels that life is pointless, and that is a way of feeling dead, in my opinion. In the play, it tells us how she has contemplated suicide for about 10 years (this is where the feelings part comes into play) in those ten years she mourned herself, she mourned her life and what has become of it. So whenever she was finally done, was when she was ready. Since the feeling of mourning has already gone through, she was just a body. Once that sticks into your head, it’s a possibly impossible to get out of. almost like gum on a shoe (just more serious of course). Sadly, the idea got stuck into Jessies head which led her to go through with killing herself.

All in all, it doesn’t matter who you are, what you are or anything related to that, Death will get you. It’s the sad, scary (at least for some people) truth.

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