Death In The Family Character Analysis

A Death in the Family by James Agee demonstrates that religious beliefs are a crucial ingredient in the way people cope with traumatizing situations in life. The sudden death of Jay Follet, a father and husband, is what the characters in this novel have been dealing with. Each character has a different point of view of religion that has played a role on how they live after the death. For example, Mary Follet, wife of Jay, is Catholic and has a deep belief in God, which affects the way she sees the death by showing her that God made it happen. Mary and Jay have two children, Rufus and Catherine, whom are too young to have decided what they believe in. Rufus does not look at the death in a religious way. The people around him, however, are demonstrating

However, his beliefs start to change during Jay’s funeral. “The family expresses their grief very differently at the funeral.” (Cavendish Square Digital, Agee, James). Each member of the family has different interpretations. Andrew goes from having zero religious beliefs, to believing that heaven might exist. Rufus has a talk with his Uncle Andrew, who tells him about something amazing that he saw when Jay’s coffin was being lowered into the ground. He said “Right when they began to lower your father into the ground, into his grave, a cloud came over and there was a shadow just like iron, and a perfectly magnificent butterfly settled on the coffin, and then flew up high into the sky.” (Agee, 330). To Andrew, the butterfly symbolizes Jay’s ascent to heaven. The butterfly on the grave flew up so high “as if it were going to heaven.” (Cavendish Square Digital). If anything could make Andrew believe in God, it would be this butterfly. He is not religious, but sees the butterfly in a miraculous way. One thing, the butterfly for example, can change a person’s beliefs. A change in beliefs can change one’s entire perspective on life, meaning that they may develop a different lifestyle than they previously lived. For example, one can live a more peaceful lifestyle if they stop seeing the world in such a harsh way. We learn that this can affect the way people cope with grief, making the coping easier or