Everyone at some time in their lives must come to the realization that they or others around them will not live forever. After they come to that moment of realization, they will either accept death when it comes and live life to the fullest or deny and live a more sheltered life. James Dickey shows this moment of realization in his poem “The Hospital Window” where a son who has just finished his terminally ill father starts to realize the frail thing called life is compared the great aspect of enjoying life. Dickey’s purpose for this poem is to the reader to realize that life is a feeble thing and one needs to have that revelation for one to truly be able to cherish life and others around oneself. Through Dickey’s use of similes, metaphors, and imagery he is able to fully convey his purpose for this poem and allow for his readers to have a new view of life from the hospital window.
The way that James Dickey uses the similes allow for readers to not only read the comparison but to feel the emotions themselves as if they are the son in the poem. A part of the poem that shows the revelation of the son on life and death is when he says “the traffic increases around me/ Like a madness called down on my head,” demonstrating this revelation can be a sort of madness to some, but at the same time a gift to them (Dickey 32-33). Madness is most of the time known just to be associated with insane people. However, one must remember some of the most famous people were people thought to be mad. The author helps to instill the emotions that the son is going through when the son says “I wave, like a man catching fire,” showing to importance of showing love to a loved one that one may never see again (Dickey 15). The way the son shows hi...
... middle of paper ...
...start to understand death and not to be afraid of it. Death is the most common fear among people and the author’s goal is to help others accept that death is not a tragedy on the contrary it is to be celebrated. The son’s transformation through this shows his fear of death for himself and his father to peace when the son utters, “I am not afraid for my father/…[and] his not afraid for my life, either,” communicating the idea of death being something that will happen no matter what. Death may be one of the most common fears, but fear will never hurt more than regret for one that does not live their lives to the fullest. “The Hospital Window” fulfills its purpose of helping others start to understand death in a superb way.
Works Cited
Dickey, James. “The Hospital Window”. The Vintage Book Of Contemporary American Poetry. New York, 2003. Print. 21 January 2014.
We all deal with death in our lives, and that is why Michael Lassell’s “How to Watch Your Brother Die” identifies with so many readers. It confronts head on the struggles of dealing with death. Lassell writes the piece like a field guide, an instruction set for dealing with death, but the piece is much more complex than its surface appearance. It touches on ideas of acceptance, regret, and misunderstanding to name a few. While many of us can identify with this story, I feel like the story I brought into the text has had a much deeper and profound impact. I brought the story of my grandmother’s death to the text and it completely changed how I analyzed this text and ultimately came to relate with it. I drew connections I would have never have drawn from simply reading this story once.
The very beginning of the article, Dr. Khullar appeals to the emotions of a reader, reminiscing about an interaction between himself and a dying patient. He explains how the patient had no one to call and would die alone, causing himself to think that “the sadness of his death was surpassed only by the sadness of his solitude” (Khullar). The feeling of sadness and loneliness is continued using other scenarios that one likely is familiar with, such as “a young man abandoned by friends as he struggles with opioid addiction” or “an older woman getting by on tea and toast, living in filth, no longer able to clean her cluttered apartment” (Khullar). Dr. Khullar also uses this strategy through the use of various phrases such as “barren rooms devoid of family or friends,” or a quote from a senior: “Your world dies before you do” (Khullar). These scenarios and terminology evoke a feeling within a reader that results in acknowledgement of the material and what is being
The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.
Lewis Thomas reaches out to all victims in death’s reach to assuage their fear of dying. Thomas wants his readers to understand that they cannot escape death; it is an “indispensible part of living.”
“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas is a magnificent poem that expresses great power, beauty, and gentleness, in which tone and emotion are exquisitely blended. His poem illustrates various ways to approach death. In expressing this, Thomas believes that one should not be so accepting and giving to death, but advocates living up until the last breathe. Thomas’s message is a plea to his ill, dying father, pleading him not to give in, but to fight death. Thomas further suggests that a great man must not die quietly, but to live fully and experience life to his utmost ability and capability. Not only is this poem about fighting death, but it also identifies how people may not live life to their fullest. This poem will be analyzed in three sections, the first of which acts as an introduction to Thomas’s message. Secondly,
At a glance, the poem seems simplistic – a detailed observance of nature followed by an invitation to wash a “dear friend’s” hair. Yet this short poem highlights Bishop’s best poetic qualities, including her deliberate choice in diction, and her emotional restraint. Bishop progresses along with the reader to unfold the feelings of both sadness and joy involved in loving a person that will eventually age and pass away. The poem focuses on the intersection of love and death, an intersection that goes beyond gender and sexuality to make a far-reaching statement about the nature of being
Overall, dwell on this process of changing throughout the poem, it can be understood that the poet is demonstrating a particular attitude towards life. Everyone declines and dies eventually, but it would be better to embrace an optimistic, opened mind than a pessimistic, giving-up attitude; face the approach of death unflinchingly, calmly.
As I walked down the corridor I noticed a man lying in a hospital bed with only a television, two dressers, and a single window looking out at nothing cluttering his room. Depression overwhelmed me as I stared at the man laying on his bed, wearing a hospital gown stained by failed attempts to feed himself and watching a television that was not on. The fragments of an existence of a life once active and full of conviction and youth, now laid immovable in a state of unconsciousness. He was unaffected by my presence and remained in his stupor, despondently watching the blank screen. The solitude I felt by merely observing the occupants of the home forced me to recognize the mentality of our culture, out with the old and in with the new.
The concept between life and death cannot simply exist without one another, where the topic is widely discussed throughout “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. This memoir explores Paul’s definition of death as he passes through the distinct “stages” of his life. As Paul progresses through each stage, he views death differently as he transformed from a student to a neurosurgeon, neurosurgeon to a patient, and eventually becoming a father, where he needed to take full responsibility as an adult.
Death, to the surrounding people, can often be seen as a horrible and depressing time in one’s life, while the same result may occur in the person going through the time period. One must remember, though, that no matter how the person has lived throughout their life, everyone must die eventually, for it is the circle of life. The playwright, Everyman, notes of the importance of having devotion and loyalty in Jesus Christ, for that is the only way to Heaven. Also, the play and The Sandbox greatly illustrate how a person near death is feeling and his emotions, while also describing the sympathy of others around him and their experiences.
The two poems, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, by Dylan Thomas and, “Because I Could Not Wait for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, we find two distinct treatments on the same theme, death. Although they both represent death, they also represent it as something other than death. Death brings about a variety of different feelings, because no two people feel the same way or believe the same thing. The fact that our faith is unknown makes the notion of death a common topic, as writers can make sense of their own feelings and emotions and in the process hope to make readers make sense of theirs too. Both Dickinson and Thomas are two well known and revered poets for their eloquent capture of these emotions. The poems both explore death and the
“The Hospital Window” by James Dickey is an emotional poem about a son’s struggle to cope with his father’s imminent demise. This poem incorporates figurative language as well as metaphors that create a story of emotion. It evokes such true emotion by drawing the reader into the fidelity of the relationship between a son and his father faced with the reality of death. Not only death in a physical sense, but also the journey one takes to reach that point and the transcendence of faith. Each element of the poem is a cliffhanger for the next line, resulting in a read that sparks the true creative power of the readers’ mind.
At a glance, the poem seems simplistic – a detailed observance of nature followed by an invitation to wash a “dear friend’s” hair. Yet this short poem highlights Bishop’s best poetic qualities, including her deliberate choice in diction, and her emotional restraint. Bishop progresses along with the reader to unfold the feelings of both sadness and joy involved in loving a person that will eventually age and pass away. The poem focuses on the intersection of love and death, an intersection that goes beyond gender and sexuality to make a far-reaching statement about the nature of being
Intro : Introduce the concept of death, and how the concept of death is shown to be something to be feared
...y this made the young doctor almost a god, he could dispense health or death and just about as he wished but with consequences if he disobeyed Death wishes. The lesson here is seen by the folly of his actions, the doctor believes that he is above all earthly constraints and believes that he is indeed a god. The young doctor is placed in this situation on purpose. He is told that he can cure anyone as long as Death allows it but he is also given the choice to do as he pleases albeit with consequences. The young doctor ignores all warnings and ultimately has to pay for his folly with his own life. What the story does is to show us that we are all human. That we can not play with death or life and that ultimately death will come after us be us rich or poor. I specially loved the symbolism of the candles of light, makes me wonder if indeed there could be such a place.