There are many, many, many books that have been written that include death as one of the events, topics, or even themes. Not all writers, though, portray death as the same thing. This blog entry will be devoted to studying death in books, and how it is portrayed.
Most books view death as a very, very sad beast that claims the lives of innocent souls. This is how most people view death in real life, too. There are many scenes in books where the hero or heroine dies, and people crowd around his or her corpse, as tears drip off their noses to the body before them. There are many scenes where people are sitting around silently, thinking of the dead one's life, and their legacy. Death as a beast, a sad, sad, creature, is very common.
Other books, such as the Harry Potter series, view death as not the worst thing that can happen. Some characters do not realize that there are much worse things than death, and that is what brings them down. Others do believe this, and it makes them much stronger. Books such as these think that moral values should be more important than whether you live or die.
Like that theme is the theme that books such as The Bible and parallel stories use. Jesus died for the sins of the world. By laying down his life, others could live. This is repeated in many other books, of which I will not write their names for fear of spoiling the end. Death is necessary, in some novels, for lives to be saved.
The character Peter Pan, who was appeared in many stories throughout the years, has a different take on death. "Death would be a great adventure," he says. Death in Peter Pan's perspective is just part of the fun of life (oxymoronic, I know). This view of death is not offensive, because Peter Pan is all fun and adventure, and he thinks death would be a great addition to his repertoire of adventures.
But one series that is very offensive and annoying is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I have previously commented on the first two novels of this series (see "Riordan Makes it Work" and "Ridiculous"). Death is a joke. At the summer camp Percy goes to, he is warned to do what the camp director says or he'll be eaten by harpies. If he's late in leaving, he'll be killed. In the camp's training, he could die by lava. No one actually does die by these causes, but the mere suggestion of it I find offensive and grotesque. I cannot believe an author would actually make the good guys be so bad as to kill their companions, and even worse, the children they are supposed to look after. It slaps death in the face. And anyone who has ever known someone that died knows that it is not something to be mentioned jokingly.
Death is viewed differently in different books: monstrous, bad but not terrible, necessary, an adventure, or a joke. Some work, others don't. But an author that successfully makes their idea work, as long as it is not too offensive, is a great author indeed.
Most books view death as a very, very sad beast that claims the lives of innocent souls. This is how most people view death in real life, too. There are many scenes in books where the hero or heroine dies, and people crowd around his or her corpse, as tears drip off their noses to the body before them. There are many scenes where people are sitting around silently, thinking of the dead one's life, and their legacy. Death as a beast, a sad, sad, creature, is very common.
Other books, such as the Harry Potter series, view death as not the worst thing that can happen. Some characters do not realize that there are much worse things than death, and that is what brings them down. Others do believe this, and it makes them much stronger. Books such as these think that moral values should be more important than whether you live or die.
Like that theme is the theme that books such as The Bible and parallel stories use. Jesus died for the sins of the world. By laying down his life, others could live. This is repeated in many other books, of which I will not write their names for fear of spoiling the end. Death is necessary, in some novels, for lives to be saved.
The character Peter Pan, who was appeared in many stories throughout the years, has a different take on death. "Death would be a great adventure," he says. Death in Peter Pan's perspective is just part of the fun of life (oxymoronic, I know). This view of death is not offensive, because Peter Pan is all fun and adventure, and he thinks death would be a great addition to his repertoire of adventures.
But one series that is very offensive and annoying is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I have previously commented on the first two novels of this series (see "Riordan Makes it Work" and "Ridiculous"). Death is a joke. At the summer camp Percy goes to, he is warned to do what the camp director says or he'll be eaten by harpies. If he's late in leaving, he'll be killed. In the camp's training, he could die by lava. No one actually does die by these causes, but the mere suggestion of it I find offensive and grotesque. I cannot believe an author would actually make the good guys be so bad as to kill their companions, and even worse, the children they are supposed to look after. It slaps death in the face. And anyone who has ever known someone that died knows that it is not something to be mentioned jokingly.
Death is viewed differently in different books: monstrous, bad but not terrible, necessary, an adventure, or a joke. Some work, others don't. But an author that successfully makes their idea work, as long as it is not too offensive, is a great author indeed.
