Death As A Tragedy For The Individual Essay - 1253 Words

Death is†¦ One main idea that I have circled back to throughout this semester, because of themes presented within this course and because of the context outside of the classroom that has impacted this community is that death is not about the deceased. Death, by definition, can only concern the living. Dying is a tragedy for the individual. Dying is a process or an event that forces hard conclusions and forces reconciliation. However, death cannot be of import to the individual who death has already captured. The struggle to decipher the meaning in dying was throughout provoking and especially moving in When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Kalanithi wrestles with having an intimate knowledge of what will eventually be the cause of his death. While Kalanithi’s dying impacts him and his family profoundly, the impact of his death is only relevant to the living. Death impacts the community, the family, and the natural world through which the body may decompose. We see this in the chapte r that was written by the author’s wife after the author’s death. Death is swift. It is unemotional and it is instantaneous. It is when vitality has come to a permanent end. One moment there is breath and a heartbeat, even if it is just a whisper. The next moment brings nothing. Dying, however, can be agonizing. Dying is when the life starts to drain out of an individual. As in The Death of Ivan Ilych, the dying began much before he became sick. When we do not live each moment to the fullest,Show MoreRelatedModern Tragedy Analysis1337 Words   |  6 PagesIs Modern Tragedy Truly Tragedy? (A critique of Stephen King’s inspired movie The Green Mile as it relates to Aristotle’s Poetics) â€Å"Tragedy is an imitation, not of men, but of an action and of life, and life consists in action, and its end is a mode of action, not a quality† (Butcher). Aristotle says that tragedy has more to do with the action of the plot than the characters themselves. Tragedy is best defined as a drama that includes a clear plot line and a protagonist who has a character flaw thatRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman Is A Tragedy In The Sense That It Displays1015 Words   |  5 PagesDeath of a Salesman is a tragedy in the sense that it displays the consequences of commitment of one s life towards an idealistic goal such as the American Dream. Willy Loman fails to see that he is an unsuccessful salesman and to escape that harsh reality, he constantly reminisces his past. Which beg the question, is Willy Loman a tragic hero? He may not be a conventional tragic hero but he indeed had a downfall however, he wasn’t in a distinguished position to say the least. He was everybody yetRead M oreThe Most Tragic of Heroes828 Words   |  3 PagesTragedy, like comedy, is in the eyes of the beholder and what makes a particular fictional character more tragic than another can be argued until the end of time. However, despite this, it seems that an undeniable part of what makes a character tragic is their ability to save themselves from their predicament but, for whatever reason, refuse to do so, thus damning themselves to their wretched fate. Likewise, the more obvious this ability, the more control that a character has over their fate, theRead More`` Everything Rises With Leadership But Falls As A Tragedy 1095 Words   |  5 Pageswith leadership but falls as a tragedy,† said Alexander the Great, before his Battle of the Hydaspes, where his army suffered many casualties and marked the end of his military campaign. In history, there have been many downfalls. A few examples, Marcus Brutus was responsible for the downfall of Julius Caesar. Fighting a two front war agai nst England and Russian empires led to the downfall of Napoleon. Many historians call those events tragedies. The word â€Å"tragedy† originates from the Greek wordRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1660 Words   |  7 Pagesthe correct definition of tragedy anyways? Many people would define tragedy as a disaster, but according to the book The Cambridge Guide to World Theatre by Martin Banham, the word tragedy is â€Å"a word whose meaning changes with time and place† (1002). In Medieval times, â€Å"tragedy came to mean the downfall of a person of high degree† (Banham 1002), but in recent times, the meaning of the word tragedy has many definitions. According to Banham, â€Å"realists refused to limit tragedy to privileged protagonists†Read MoreThe Characters Of Foils In William Shakespeares Hamlet860 Words   |  4 Pagesthe main character poses, but also understanding the obvious as well as hidden aspects of their lives.   In the Shakespea res tragedy, Hamlet, William Shakespeares applies foils to explore morality and social ethics and how to answer the overall question of the tragedy, what it means to be a human and what happens after death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In William Shakespeares classic tragedy Hamlet, the nominal protagonist, Hamlet, is a   progressive character that has constant unfolding traits that the audience learnsRead MoreTragedy in The Merchant of Venice1472 Words   |  6 Pagesdictionary.com, a tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering; furthermore, it is a dramatic composition, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a flaw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. Tragedy elements are that in which a protagonist agonizes disconnection from society and also, he or she makes an error or shows awful decision making. There are typically deaths which arise atRead MoreWilliam Woolf s Mrs. Dalloway1730 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary traditions often focus on tragedy, whether it be personal, national, or universal. In this way, it gives the characters, author, and reader the reference point of a shared experience upon which to build a literary work. In the case of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, this uniting experience was the Great War. The remnants of this conflict can be seen throughout the novel in the lives and experiences of its characters. The integral nature of tragedy in Mrs. Dalloway means that future reimaginingsRead MoreCritical Analysis Of Oedipus The King1025 Words   |  5 PagesSophocles you can see that the author did a very outstanding form of presenting a tragedy that has the characteristics of mimesis and a tragic hero. Specifically, the writer written the play that would leave many readers to be able to relate to and have a character whom characteristics are noble and basically good. A purpose of tragedy is â€Å"catharsis†. In other words, the main reason for a tragedy in a play is to purge an individual of his or negative attributes. In this play â€Å"Oedipus the King† written byRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman Essay1567 Words   |  7 PagesIt is known that in literature, a tragedy is one of the most popular genres. It always combines some story which discusses human sufferings with a certain sense of audience fulfillment. The roots of the tragedy are related to ancient Greece. A Greek tragedy is a sad story, which represents a character with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis