An Analysis of Do not go gentle into that good night
The first time I read Dylan Thomas' words to his dying father, and I shouted I agreed completely with the feelings of Thomas. How right he was, I thought, to demand fighting to the very end. That's the way I would be when my time came, and that's the way everyone should be. I have had a few years to think it over. Today, burning and raging have less appeal and I find myself impatient with the "Give 'em Hell!" crowd.
Probably his bellicose stance helped Thomas the son. The psychotherapist in me thinks, "That's one way to avoid feeling the pain of loss --- focus on how the one you are losing ought to behave." And if we refuse to accept parental death, we can, like Woody Allen, nourish the secret, sly wish that although "everyone dies, I'm hoping that in my case they will make an exception."
But how did Thomas the father feel about it? We are not privy to that knowledge.
My own father died unexpectedly in his sleep when I was nine years old. Some part of me must have felt angry and betrayed, but at nine I could not articulate my grief, let alone rage. I can never know what it was like for him.
I have since experienced the death of my grandmother in her eighties, my mother in her seventies, friends, colleagues, and teachers in their middle age, and young clients cruelly claimed by AIDS and cancer. Most of the time I desperately wanted the person to live and not die, but I have become very careful to not add my own need to the burden of the dying one, offering only unqualified loving support.
I have come to believe that affirmation of life is not incongruent with acceptance of its inevitable end; that the in...
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...y and loss that inspires us. He transformed his tragic circumstances by going gently.
Is longevity all we aspire to? Do we admire a rose less because it will not live as long as an oak tree?
The Alcohol Anonymous prayer asks for courage to change what can be changed, serenity to accept what cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference. Acquiring that wisdom is surely one of our most worthy and important goals.
Reconciling our appreciation for hair dye, cosmetic surgery, fitness, hip replacements, contact lenses, etc, with honoring age -- and eventually death -- is essential for serenity.
We can, I believe, cherish life, work tirelessly to find cures and relieve suffering, and wear lipstick, while recognizing the truth and beauty of Buddha's words:
"Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well."
showed itself at moments, and I always was deeply upset knowing, his father could never do
“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,
He wasn’t too fond of truly becoming close to others. Krakauer states, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (55). This had also occurred a few months prior in Niland Slabs, where he met Burres and Tracy. He had made friends there, and Tracy had developed feelings for him, but he rebuffed any of her advancements; he didn’t want to get involved with others, not after having left home for his journey. To him, having had friends and family that he left behind, he loved people, but he didn’t want to be close to them in any way other than purely being around them. Growing up with a difficult family relationship, such as McCandles’s, which caused him to push people away; it’s easy to relate to him in that aspect. For a majority of my life, up until I was around 13, I did almost exactly as he, when it came to being around others; I enjoyed their company, but I pushed everyone away and only felt relief from doing so. I was more than happy with how it was back then, but now I’m not much different; I’ve learned to accept a few people into my
first part of the Buddhist salvation. Knowing that all is futile and there is nothing externally that
I have felt the pain of the loss of a Sister; have felt the pain of the death of my Mother, and felt the death of my Father. I know how it feels. I experienced it. It is painful, looking at those old kind folks who bore you; who took care of you; went through all kinds of sacrifices and pains just to look after you for years and years, until one day the child stood on one’s own two feet, and then … there they are, the parents, helpless and lifeless in front of you.
Lowering the legal drinking age would create problems such as infringing on the mental and physical development of the young drinker. As a respected author, Matt Nagin puts it, “The late teens and early twenties are formative years where character building, leadership in the community, and scholastic excellence should be emphasized. Alcohol detracts from all of these.” In other words, Nagin believes that the teen years are an imperative time of growth in a person’s life. Scientists have proven that the brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty five. If Nagin’s argument is correct, and I believe it is, then people should understand that scientists have proven the negative affects that alcohol has on the development of the brain. Alcohol has the power to kill brain cells and damage growth hormones. By making alcohol legally accessible to an eighteen year old, we are literally poisoning his or her brain.
As cited by Riely (2003) “No one, neither adult nor child, grieves in the same manner” (p. 213). Parents usually do not tell the whole story of a death to children. “Children are “are not allowed to talk about who, what, when, where, and why a death has occurred” (Riely, 2003, p. 213). Not sure about what is going on, children try to piece together the bits of information they get and sense. Eventually, children “regard the death as a frightening, mysterious, traumatic experience with untrustworthy parent or adult caregivers who offer them no way to cope” (Riely, 2003, p. 213). Death often “elicits shock, denial, great anxiety, and distress” (Riely, 2003, p. 213). Thus, as children are not given permission to be sad and to grieve, “they fantasize and idealize the relationship with the dead. Children try to act grown-up in an attempt to master the pain of their loss and will deny helplessness. They tend to exhibit fearful, phobic behaviors and hypochondrias” (Riely, 2003, p.
Dylan Thomas believes that life should be lived to its fullest extent right until ones very last breath, and you should not be given up gently. One should try to exit this world still strong and passionate. This poem is Dylan Thomas’s appeal to his father to fight death and hang on to life for as long as possible.
My As the years have passed, I do believe my father’s death had a profound impact on my emotional and social development, especially during my adolescent stage. It was during the adolescent stage of my life where my personality traits of shyness, introversion, and self-esteem began to manifest. I did not have a secure attachment to my father. My relationship with my mother felt more like I was attempting to protect her from my father. During my adolescent years we were not
It seems as though medicine is constantly improving, as is our understanding of terminal illness, making it easier for us to live beyond what even our grandparents have. However, this ability to almost cheat death is changing our perception of death; it seems unreal. In the article Denying and Defying Death: The Culture of Dying in 21st Century America by Deborah Waldrop, this exact complex is discussed. Although we are less expecting of death as a society, it is still at large. Modern medicine may improve by the day, but many things remain unsolved. Diseases grow resilient to medication, many are left unanswered, and some of the remaining illnesses we suffer from are simply ruthless. We have yet to find cures for cancer, for HIV/AIDs, for multiple sclerosis, and yet we believe we, as people, are cheating death. Young people are especially negatively impacted; at the age of 17, I had only experienced the death of two family members. While this is a blessing, it is also extremely influential on my perception of death. Not 50 years ago, it would have been likely that I would not have any grandparents, and that my parents’ health would be declining. Death would be normal, and expected. So naturally, when my grandmother passed away in the spring, I was taken aback; I knew she was sick and that she had spent years suffering through multiple sclerosis, however, death was not something I anticipated. The advancements of medicine
Dylan Thomas' poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" is about a son’s bereavement and the acceptance of his father dying. Thomas knows death is inevitable, therefore, he uses persuasion to get his father to "rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Line 3). Villanelle poems require two repeating rhyme schemes. Thomas helps the reader visualize dark and light. : “Wise men… know dark is right” (4). “Wild men… sang the sun in flight/do not go gentle into that good night” (10,12). “Eyes…blaze like meteors” (14).
Let us first look at adults and grieving. Here the relationship with the decedent is a primary factor in the grieving process. When parents experience the loss of a child, it is considered the “most difficult of deaths” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 492). The cycle of life dictates that the older shall die first. When this cycle is broken with the death of a child, adults are not prepared for the death. The hope for the future is threaten within the family, and thoughts of what should have been, what will be missed linger. Mothers will talk more about the death while Fathers will keep busy with tasks in an attempt to avoid expressing their feelings (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 492). There may be marital discord as w...
Death is one of the concepts that is perceived differently throughout cultures. Some see it as a punishment or loss, some take it as just another chapter of our existence – a transition to the unknown. Death is so much more than just life running out of time; it includes a great deal of pain: physical, social – leaving our loved ones behind, mental – trying to understand what fills that void when we die, emotional – frustration and regret, and spiritual – fear of not having led a fulfilling life. There is a fear of death, or the unknown that awaits afterwards not only in relation to ourselves, but also in relation to people we love, and despite the pain that fills our hearts, sometimes we need to do the right thing to ease their journey.
Francis was famous for his love of all creation. He called for simplicity of life, poverty, and humility before God. He worked to care for the poor. Thousands were drawn to his sincerity, piety, and joy. In all his actions, Francis sought to follow fully and literally the way of life demonstrated by Christ in the Gospels. He died in 1226, at the age of 44.
Now the communication class is almost over I have realize how important is to have good communication skills, and how it is key to life. I have learned many things in this class for example ways to approach strangers. Another thing that I have learned how to handle conflict and how sometimes it could be good it not always bad and many others. The way I look things have change to have reach my goals. This class was has also taught me how to look in the “other” perceptive, and not being selfish by just seeing one side. All that I have learn will help me and other around me to be able to communicate better.