Last words. Mortality. Death. Existence. All these things Miles Halter, aka Pudge, is in one way or another thinking about. Miles throughout his whole journey has one goal, and that is to find the Great Perhaps. The Great Perhaps is the great truth, the great meaning of life and death. It is not only Miles that seeks to find it, but the Great Perhaps is what many people today themselves are trying to discover. Within the theme of finding the true meaning of life, in that exploration, many questions are asked. What happens to us when we die? Depending on the person and their beliefs, the answer to that question will vary. Although that is the big question, the real question is why do people need an answer to that one? I along with Miles believe …show more content…
Knowing the answer to the question where will we go when we die gives a sense of closure. A sense of peace. Likewise, to this question Miles responded, “People, I thought, wanted security.....I finally decided that people believed in an afterlife because they could bear not to” (Green 100). For most people, the thought of death is something scary. Because of religious beliefs though, if you believe in certain ones, death no longer appears as something scary. Many religions believe in some sort of afterlife and/or the soul’s existence, and this provides security. Although countless people believe in some sort of afterlife after death, not all do. Even though not believing in that, some still are able to find some sort of stability in the sense of thinking about death. For instance, Alaska professed, “Y’all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die” (Green 44). Some people don’t care. They seem to come to terms with the fact that death is just something inevitable and there shouldn’t be a reason to fear it. Knowing it’s coming, might as well be mentally …show more content…
To even think of someone close to you passing away or being with you know longer is a devastating thought. This ties into security as well because people want to know that once their loved one is gone, they are in a “better place” or that they still “live on”. Having that safe feeling that maybe your loved one’s spirit is still with you is comforting, but losing them is still a very painful thing. With this in mind, Miles lamented, “What is an "instant" death anyway? How long is an instant? Is it one second? Ten? The pain of those seconds must have been awful as her heart burst and her lungs collapsed and there was no air and no blood to her brain and only raw panic. What the hell is instant? Nothing is instant. Instant rice takes five minutes, instant pudding an hour. I doubt that an instant of blinding pain feels particularly instantaneous” (Green 146). After someone you love dies, you just hope that even if their death might have been difficult and long or even if it was short and quick, that they are finally put to rest. Hence the saying “Rest In Peace”. Additionally, Pudge acknowledged, “They couldn’t bear the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved ones not existing, and couldn’t imagine themselves not existing” (Green 100). Most would rather not discuss this subject at all. They would definitely rather talk about lighter, more
We do not think about death and how it is going to affect other people in our life. When we do find out that we are dying, then we do not mourn our life, but the life we want. We want to be close to God, but we do not know how to be close to him. We try everything to get close.
The fear of the unknown is one of the most crucial issues about life after death. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. The scripture is our surety that those who accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then we will receive the gift of everlasting life according to John 3:16. The Abrahamic teaching of the resurrection is the foundation of the Christianity; And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith, I Corinthians 15:14.
First let's examine more specifically the belief of afterlife and how it impacts internalized beliefs of the soul. When people think of death, there is a sense of depression and sadness of this idea of “the end” to their lives. This in turn, causes an imbalance in their internal milieu, leading to anxiety and fear of death. To keep the homeostasis of the internal milieu, there is another force that must counterbalance this fear, by replacing it with comfort. This comfort is founded on the belief in “eternity” of the soul in an afterlife. Whereby, life of the soul continues to live beyond the death of the physical body, thus relieving the anxiety of death, and bringing back the homeostasis of the internal mil...
Death is part of the circle of life and it's the end of your time on earth; the end of your time with your family and loved ones. Nobody wants to die, leaving their family and missing the good times your loved ones will have once you pass on. In the Mercury Reader, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross “On the Fear of Death” and Joan Didion “Afterlife” from The Year of Magical Thinking” both share common theses on death and grieving. Didion and Kübler-Ross both explain grieving and dealing with death. Steve Jobs commencement speech for Stanford’s graduation ceremony and through personal experience jumps further into death and how I feel about it. Your time is on earth is limited one day you will die and there are many ways of grieving at the death of a loved one. I believe that the fear of death and the death of a loved one will hold you back from living your own life and the fear of your own death is selfish.
Many people seem to fear death, but philosophers such as Socrates and Epicurus would argue that one has no reason to fear it. Socrates sees death as a blessing to be wished for if death is either nothingness or a relocation of the soul, whereas Epicurus argues that one shouldn't worry themselves about death since, once we are gone, death is annihilation which is neither good nor bad. Epicurus believes that death itself is a total lack of perception, wherein there is no pleasure or pain. I agree with Epicurus because Socrates doesn't give a sound argument for death as a blessing, whereas Epicurus' argument is cogent. I would also argue personally that death is not something to be feared because, like Epicurus, I see no sufficient evidence showing we even exist after death.
Death is sometimes considered unthinkable. People do not wish to think of loved ones dying. When someone close to us dies we are over come with sadness. We wish we had more time with them. Their death shows us the importance of that person’s role in our lives. We begin to think of how we will live our lives without them. We think of all the moments we shared with them, they live again in our memories. Perhaps death is considered unthinkable because we fe...
Life and death can be confusing, why? Nobody knows exactly what happens when we die. People are scared to think about what happens after death, so they are prone to create theories and make up stories. Many of the stories and theories of the afterlife are taught through religion, For believers and nonbelievers alike, this leaves many to question the science behind the theory, and others to live in fear of death. Throughout history religious theories have created wars and disputes between man, in schools and even in homes. It is because of this, religion can be questionable and at times an unacceptable way of life.
It is difficult to understand how they might see where they will be when they die. I look forward to being in heaven after I live and complete my life. I could not imagine dying and not having any kind of afterlife. I know that one day when I die I will see all the people that died who I love and dearly miss. I had a best friend die and I cannot wait to be with him after I die.
When we are born, people hope that we live a long and happy life, but everything including humans are essentially made or born to die. We are taught when we are young that our goal, path, purpose or whatever you wish to call it is to: get an education, get a job, get a spouse, and have children to continue the cycle. As said in the film Bee Movie, we go to school, then work until we die. That can be applied to us in the real world, some people have to work until they die to be able to financially support themselves and/or their family and they fear death until they know that their family will be well off when they are gone.
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
In most every religion, the promise of some sort of afterlife is why most people believe. That is what causes so many things in life to go unrecognized. We do not live in a world were everyone stays forever young, there is always a beautiful sunset, and "ripe fruit never falls." Every living thing dies. That is what makes it all so special.
In the Apology of Socrates, he says that “To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils. And surely it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one knows what one does not know.” (Plato pg. 28) I disagree with Socrates when he laments that we should only fear what we know to be true. Since Socrates states that we can not be absolutely be sure that death isn’t the biggest blessing to man, we cannot fear it. I, however, believe the opposite to be true. No one knows that what comes after death is good...
Russell discussed the finality of Death. He argues that there cannot be life after death and that after the destruction of our body’s that our memories and personality are destroyed as well. He discusses the importance of fear when dealing with death. He states that this is the strongest emotion and he also states that it is instinctive and biological and that it is useful. He thinks that if we truly believed in future life that we should have no fear of death. I have a few opinions about this subject. For one I think that fearing death can be to your advantage. For instance I know people who believe in the after life but they still fear death. Having this fear of death prevents them from doing any harm to themselves. Also not knowing what awaits them in the after life could cause this fear as well. This also has to do with religions there are some that believe strongly that there is life after death and that it is their destiny to be with God.
Death is something that many people have a hard concept grasping. The fact that a loved
What is going to happen to us when we will die? Some people never considered what it could happen to them after life. For many people, death is a redoubtable event because they do not know what to expect after their death. However, other persons, such as religious people are conscious of what to expect after their death because of their beliefs. Each religion has different ideas and different ways of looking life. Death, therefore, is viewed by different religions in many ways. Although, different religions have a distinct conception of death, they all have something in common: they all give hope to people. Among all different religions in the world, four of the most common ones - Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu- view death in different ways.