Death and Mourning - Thesis Example

Death and mourning of the of the of the Institute] of the Death and Mourning Introduction My thesis is how different people view life, death, and the impact that death and grief has on their life. The paper follows a systematic structure in order to reach its conclusions and includes perspectives by various philosophers. The views and beliefs about death are controversial. People with similar views, perceptions and thoughts about death have formed groups to promote their belief. One group, for instance, is afraid of death because they do not know what happens after one dies. Some people are scared of death because they do not want to lose their loved ones. On the other hand, some people are not scared of dying because they think death as a means of connecting to God. Many cultures and religions view death as a continuation of life and a way of stepping into heaven. Moreover, some atheists say that there is no hell or heaven after death; hence, they do not wish to die at all. The aim of this paper is to highlight how different societies and cultures view life and death. Moreover, by the end of the essay, the reader will know that death must be understood properly in order to get through life with dignity and to obtain a place in heaven. Death of a relative or a loved one is a difficult period for an individual to go through, however; some people learn from such experiences by improving their lives while others carry on with their life normally. The way a person copes up with death depends on his family background, the cultural or religious settings and his will power. Moreover, mourning is a result of a reaction to the loss of life, and it can be felt mentally or emotionally depending on each person’s situation. The Death of a person could result in reactions of anger, guilt or sadness; or because of sadness, a person might feel sleepy, lazy or will have a loss of appetite. In other words, mourning works as a tool to pull out these negative feelings and pushes a person towards the recovery phase. When one tries to overcome the grief it becomes easier to return to normal work schedules. A person should find ways to diminish his pain by making new relationships; in a way, he could benefit from the support that a new relationship might give. Hence, loss and bereavement should be dealt with properly and the attainment of an appropriate support system may result in speedy recovery. A German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in “The Madman”, explains one such example of the modern world attitude towards death. The lunatic is shown to be mad, but in reality his assertions are extremely insightful because he fears that God, who is the supreme power, is dead. He believes that people killed God. Once there is no God, there will be no order in the world resulting in chaos. His main idea was to control the power that illiterate and unknowledgeable people have. He believes that such power remains with God and only God is supreme. Everyone else has a restriction on his power through the end of their life, the death! Power without knowledge is useless. Nietzsche’s study provides that people’s attitude towards the insane man is unpleasant, to them God’s authority is nothing. Hence, due to this attitude, they do not perceive the consequences they would face in the future. This shows that people today think that God’s absence has no meaning in their lives. Friedrich Nietzsche, here explains the relationship between death and life and the corresponding relationship between joy and grief. Life ends with the occurrence of death and this is the only reason people fear acting in a certain way. Without the fear of death, living would become a horrible dream where there will be no laws, regulations, punishments and hence, no fear at all. Hence, without the risk of dying, people would commit crimes, would not follow laws, norms, cultures and all boundaries would become meaningless. The depiction of the Madman is an excellent example of how people view death today. This example is beneficial because it serves as a wake-up call for people today who have become extremely materialistic and self-centered as if death is a myth. Instead of preparing for life after death they are lost in the worldly issues. Another example of an attitude towards Death is highlighted in Jose Sarmago’s novel; “Death with Interruptions” Jose poses a question “What happen when the grim reaper decides there will be no more deaths” (Saramago, 2008). The novel narrates that no one dies on the first day of the New Year; as a result, the public celebrates by dancing and hanging flags to show their delightfulness. This immature attitude of the people clearly depicts the human mentality of the time; because of longer or eternal lives, people later realize that they have to pay a heavy price for it. Although, they received the gift of eternity, families have to take care of the permanently sick who will not die. Moreover, the life insurance becomes useless as there are no memorial services, and funerals are held only for the animals. Through this example of Sarmago, the reader will learn that one should accept death as a natural process made by God and interference with God-made rules will always result in grave consequences. Another striking example of indifferent attitude towards death can be found in Philippe Aries, “Western attitude Towards Death from the Middle Ages to the present.” Through this writing, Aries showed how much the approach of death has changed from medieval times to present in Rome and United States. In explaining modern views of death, Aries says that people have become indifferent towards demise and to conceal the fear of death, they act as death is a myth (Aries, 613, 1975). This is another prominent example that highlights how previous generations were better as people accepted the natural process of life and death and hence, were happier as compared to the present world. In the ancient times, people had their beliefs and faith as their assets which led them towards good deeds, collaboration and help of others. They feared the afterlife and they tried earning plentiful to save themselves from the horrors of afterlife. With the switch towards a more modernist approach, people have erased the afterlife phenomena and have become more inclined towards worldliness. Death seems to be either a non-occurring incident to them or seems too remote to them to be worked for. This ignorant behavior and idea of death has taken those steps away from people which were previously taken to help others, earn rewards in afterlife and to avoid deadly incidents (like punishments, death sentences and so on). Many philosophers around the globe expressed their views on life and death Friedrich Nietzche is one of them. His works highlights a fear, “God is Dead” (Nietzche, 2006). By this statement, he means that the world is moving towards disaster, with the rise of atheism. He criticizes the western society because of their lifestyle and indifference towards religion. He says that people are inclined to selfishness, and as a result, they are moving towards disorder. He severely condemned and accused the western world saying that because of their broken religious beliefs they are facing difficulties. The humanity that existed is diminishing for their selfish acts and self centeredness. People belonging to this school of thought are believed to be highly independent and autonomous. They see themselves as supreme or rather take the world as the only place to gain everything or lose it. Hence, they try to take as much of the bounties of this world as possible, whether through legal and ethical ways or by adopting illegal and immoral acts. The views on death and mourning of this class are, as a result, of immense importance to reduce and eliminate the wrongfulness, unethical behaviors and selfishness that prevails. Furthermore, Friedrich Nietzche believed that it is through building a strong relation with God and following the religious beliefs that one can live a good moral life. Although, Nietzsche was severely criticized by his contemporaries as a harsh pessimist, he remained consistent to his thinking. He presented a clear image of what the future holds. He was the one who predicted the forthcoming situation of the world, years before world war one and two. Nietzche beautifully presented his ideas on life and death, through the western society. He was of the opinion that a person should create a meaningful life for her or himself and must not blame others for their inappropriate actions. Hence, the struggle for existence depends on willpower. His view on life and existence is that everyone makes his own choices. A person is sad because of the terrible choices he had made. When a person looks deep inside himself, then only he can attain respect or freedom. One cannot blame anyone for the troubles and misery one faces; instead everyone should take the responsibility of his own actions. This way only can life become a blessing for all! A persons life, good or bad, depends enormously on what he or she thinks. A courageous person is fearless because he thinks that way. A pessimist is fearful because he thinks negatively. What one’s life is, depends on a person’s beliefs, thoughts and ideas. Hence, a person becomes great or evil through the choices he makes throughout his life. Human beings are what they are because of their own struggle and attitude towards life. Emotions like despair, remorse, happiness are all linked to the choices one makes. Death is the only occurrence that takes away all the despair, happiness, and worldly blessings away from a person. Only a belief in death and the firm faith on the mortality of this world can bring peace to a person and the whole world. The belief that everything that we have will end, eliminates the lust and selfishness.  Conclusion  In conclusion, one must say that attitude towards death in the modern world is terrible. From the above examples, one learns that death is inevitable, and one cannot run from reality.  God is indeed the supreme power. People instead of making a close connection to God are hiding themselves from the reality by making evil choices. As a result, the universe is suffering from unending pain. Moreover, life is meaningful only if it has a good purpose. One cannot blame others for his despairs and misfortunes. Life is full of trials and lessons and each trial takes us to the next step toward heaven or hell depending upon a person’s deeds. References Aries, P. (1975). Western attitudes towards death from the middle ages to the Present. New York: The Johns Hopkins University Press  Nietzche, F. (2006). Gay Sciences. New York: Dover Publications. Saramago, J. (2008). Death with Interruptions. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Weatphal, J& Levenson, C.A. (1993). Life and Death. New York: Hackett Pub Co. Read More