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"Everyman" Perception of Death

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"Everyman" Perception of Death
Perception of Death and Treatment of death in "Everyman"

Thesis Statement
Death is perceived in differently in various cultures and tends to impact an individual personally as compared to a group.

Outline
Introduction and Thesis Statement
Discussion 1: Perception of Death in various cultures
Discussion 2: How People Treat Death today as an individual
Conclusion
Author’s Perception “Everyman” is a metaphorical story that illustrates the value of life and death. The famous medieval play of the 20th century elucidates around the lifetime journey, the sins, family, and the day of reckoning. Death is perceived distinctively in various cultures and tends to impact an individual personally as compared to a group. The journey to death is associated with life’s morals, values, and experiences witnessed in life, but each person’s reactions to death are quite different. Following the brief overview of the “Everyman,” the essay discusses death in several cultures and how individuals treat death with support from scholars. In the story, Everyman is the central character who represents mankind and everything that mankind experiences in life until the Day of Judgment. The story is shown as life lessons for others in the path they have chosen in their lives. Everyman meets different aspects of his life which are themes for humans. He first meets Death sent by god to deliver a message that his life is coming to an end. In response, Everyman tries to bribe Death with material possessions (Goods). Death has no value of these possessions, can’t be bribed, doesn’t wait for anyone, and his decision is final. No man can cheat death and ultimately avoid it, it is inevitable. Death tells Everyman to find someone to accompany him on his journey if he can and that is where the journey begins. On his journey, he meets his best friend (Fellowship), family (Kindred and Cousin), and material wealth (Goods) who all forsake and betray him in his time of need.



Cited: Aziz, Sheikh. “Death and Dying - a Muslim Perspective.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Volume 91. (1998) pp. 138-140. . “Everyman: A Morality Play.” Literature: And Spirituality. The Essential Literature Series Yaw Adu-Gyamfi and Mark Ray Schmidt. Lynchburg: Longman, 2011 Firestone, Lisa. “Creating Meaning by Facing Our Mortality: How death awareness can help us make conscious choices to live more fully.” Psychology Today. 2012. < http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201205/creating-meaning-facing-our-mortality>. Lickerman, Alex. “Overcoming The Fear Of Death: A physician confronts his own mortality.” Psychology Today. 2009. . Lynn, Joanne. Treatment Options at the End of Life. New Jersey: Whitehouse Station, 2007. . Mullin, Gleen H. Living in the Face of Death: The Tibetan Tradition. New York: Snow Lion Publications, 2008. < http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=z0Mc-VEge88C&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Dr.+Richard+Kalish++and+views+on+death&source=bl&ots=Vj3kZQVWcP&sig=BuwBN_1rSkC7dk3wXNKafI0n9j4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UbF1UO-iOueJ4gTG3YGQDw&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Dr.%20Richard%20Kalish%20%20and%20views%20on%20death&f=false>. Ogden, Jenni. “Euthanasia: A Good Death?” Psychology Today. 2012. .

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