Max Porter Five Stages Of Grief

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The “five stages of grief” is a model in which a person supposedly goes through when they are in despair. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, in that order. But, grief is a natural human emotion, and there are almost 7.5 billion people on earth, so does each individual person actually follow this system? According to Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, by Max Porter, not everyone does, as the book gives the readers three characters that are mourning, with each of them having their own way of struggling with the sadness. Porter portrays the three wounded characters’ grief through the use of disconnecting stories to suggest that each individual manages grief differently.
To begin with, Porter implies that Dad’s …show more content…

However, the reader does not know what he chose, for the story changes from the fox to his dead wife after he declares: “I am obsessed” (35). His stream of consciousness brought about that sentence, as Dad acknowledges his obsession with his wife during the time she was alive, evidenced from when he was talking to his best friend (51). Still, how exactly did he come to announce that he is “obsessed;” was he obsessed with the dead fox or the want to show it to his children? Neither, his stream of consciousness triggered the word from the thoughts of the dead fox and children. Dad introduces the “dead fox” in the very beginning, and his deceased partner causes the prominence of the word “dead.” In the next paragraph, Dad mentions his “sons,” so once again it reminds him of his significant other due to the fact that they are all part of his family. Above all, because the words “dead” and “sons” are near each other, it forces him to think about his “small children with no Mum,” leading him to sadness. This all coerces him to start remembering the times he had with his wife when she was alive: “I remember the …show more content…

The first child is perceived as depressed in the beginning. He believes that the family deserves aid from fire engines, strangers, and “men in helmets” (13-14). From the time he heard that his mother died, this brother was in the slumps. He felt that “holiday[s] and school became the same” (14). He had no motivation whatsoever, a sign of severe depression, Fortunately, he was healing well throughout the book due to his relationship to Crow. In fact, he plays with it often, so much so that he “can’t remember if [the] game was [his] brother’s idea, or Crow’s,” when they played in the woods (53). This boy actually uses his father’s therapy device. Crow is beneficial if a person acknowledges their grief, as it gave the boy comfort when his dad was not with him. Unfortunately, the other brother struggled heavily after his mother died. He used violence and lies to surmount the period of bereavement. The story of the guppy fish, where the brothers “dammed it and smashed it,” uncovers the violent nature of this aggressive boy (21). Using violence to overcome grief is common. People that use this way want to put their pain on other living organisms, so that the other being can feel their pain. Also, the less hostile brother’s perspective on their killing explicates his guilt, compared to the other brother, who does not appear to feel much remorse. The

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