Dr. Vernon Sat

“Not bad,” replied Gabby, who had thrown her bag up on the counter and was trying to fish out a lighter, “just got off!” Both of her stockings had a run in them and flicks of discarded food stuck to the sides of her tennis shoes. Her dress was black and sparkling. Vernon could tell she worked at another diner the moment she got out of the cab. The waitress flipped over an empty cup and poured out what was leftover of the coffee. Gabby had lite her cigarette, inhaled a drag, took a sip, and exhaled out a thick cloud of smoke in one single breath. “Ended up pulling a double?” The swirls in the smoke seemed to actuate Gaby's words. “Don’t remind me!” replied the waitress, who had removed one of her flats and was rubbing her heel, “I’ve been on and off my feet since 9:30 this morning.” Gabby looked towards the front of the diner at the back of Vernon’s head and then back at the waitress. “Rough night?” “Nope,” replied the waitress, “he’s been coming in here late for the last month or so, keeps to himself.” They both could see that Vernon was moving his hands while he was talking to himself. “We still on for tonight,” asked Gabby. “Maybe,” said the waitress, “as long we can get a table.” The band aids on the back of her heels needed to be replaced with new ones. Gabby

Lewis Thomas proposes that the inundation of society with detailed, step-by-step, almost instructional style gruesome books on the subject of death influences the way in which people consider the topic, creating the impression that there is a right way and a wrong way to approach death and a need for instruction on the matter. His technique in addressing the topic of death involves

Tom was still on the couch, the light from the television illuminating his pale, tear-stained face. He lay on his side, his body pulled into the fetal position with his hands tucked between his thighs and his lackluster eyes staring blankly at the flickering screen. He was the very picture of wretchedness; a lost soul whose life was a litany of physical pain and psychological suffering.

Tom Walker sat at his bedside feeling rather melancholy for he had not much to do but be chided at by his notorious witch of a wife. They both lived in their humble abode of an apartment in the middle of a city but they had a sublime view that overlooked the scenery of the domicile's dumpsters. They lived poorly, just barely getting by to afford a couple gallons of gas. Tom grew a hatred for almost everyone around and had only a handful of “friends”, he believed that money was the most valuable and important thing in his life.

Taking another deep breath to help calm his nerves, John folded the letter and sealed it with some sticky tape. With his hands trembling he handed over his most private thoughts to Josie. After they had exchanged letters they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Once John got outside he looked up to the hazy sky and let out a shaky laugh full of relief. Maybe just maybe Josie would be the one to save him before it was too late. He hoped that she would open the letter before graduation and help him put back together the shattered pieces of his life. Because deep down that broken boy wanted to live more than anything in the

Posters and pamphlets strewn across the walls accompany the harsh, burning stench of disinfectant. Passing the bodies of former men, and followed by the click-clack of nurses shoes, he sees him. Hollow cheeks, sunken eyes, every bone visible through the thin hospital gown. His love is a shell of the man he once knew, Patty is gone.

The Civil War shook the United States in 1861, forcing families and soldiers, both in the North and South, to reevaluate what it meant to live and die under less-than-ideal circumstances. In Drew Gilpin Faust’s essay, titled The Civil War Soldier and the Art of Dying, Faust goes through every change the Civil War made in the standard perception of death and mourning at the time and the lasting implications death in the Civil War would have for years to come. In every sense, the changes Faust outlines were put in place to cater towards the They of Heideggerian thought and ultimately did not help Civil War soldiers and families think authentically about death, but rather shaped social norms that still support the They and prohibit Dasein from authentically anticipating death as a possibility.

"Different emotions battled for dominance in his mind and heart. Confusion. Curiosity. Panic. Fear. But laced through it all was the dark feeling of utter hopelessness." (6)

Though death is accepted by some, others dread the idea of it. Those that are terrified of death can become absolutely consumed with horror. The poem “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain” by Emily Dickinson describes a scene in which the character is suffering through mental deterioration and lacks the ability to control their emotions. The poem depicts the weakening of the character’s mind through the imagined occurrence of a funeral within her brain. The distressful situation of the funeral caused “mourners, to and fro, [to keep] treading, treading” (Source B). Once the mourners were seated for the funeral to begin, the “service like a drum, kept beating, beating, till I thought my mind was going numb” (Source B) and the agitated mood of the funeral increased. The alarming beat of the drum caused such commotion that the character became dazed and traumatized further. The

Being born and raised in a world of structures, Vernon relied on his family to provide a positive example to prosper. Without the help of his mother, Vernon would not be who he is today. Realizing and living through the struggles of social structures, his mother pushed him to make the impossible possible. What made Vernon’s mother remarkable was that she was able to “stand her ground and work to achieve her goals” (18). She taught Vernon that social constraints are only barriers that bring someone down. No matter how much social constraints got to them they always prospered. On the other hand, his father is an example of someone who gave into social constraints resulting in his divorce, a pivotal moment in Vernon’s journey. His father was

Clayton is a thirty-eight year old who is suffering from severe depression. Dr. Marco describes his family as being “dysfunctional”. Both of his parents have addictive personalities. Clayton’s father was an alcoholic, and was mentally and physically abusive. His mother was someone he could always count on until one day after she got tired of his father’s abuse and turned to drugs. Shouting, violence and being talked about were common in his household.

Tom Wilkes lurched forward from his usual nightmare with sweat dripping from his face. He didn’t notice his hands were shaking more violently than normal as he reached for his glasses. This particular routine was nothing new, but this was the fourth night without a break from the violent awakening. The alarm clock read 4:40 A.M. Tom was surprised it wasn’t earlier, he let out a deep sigh and began his journey to the living room. The apartment was dainty but the lack of things furnishing it skewed the perception. The living room only contained a small futon and a 13” JVC Television, the television was unplugged and hadn’t been on for months. The small kitchen table was littered with empty royal crown and spring water bottles. Tom walked to the

All people hold in them an awareness of death, but prisoners on death row have a heightened sense of their own mortality. Knowing death is within the near future pushes a mind to wander to insanity. Not being able to go about actions or express thoughts to loved ones in the last moments of life is the leading factor flooding the mind. Through analyzing the death penalty’s impact in “Memories of a Dead Man walking”, Sister Helen Prejean emphasizes human’s fear of death motivates a need to seek forgiveness and life’s purpose.

In this play, Hamlet by Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet, is told by the ghost of his father to get revenge for his death. In order to do this, Hamlet decides to act “crazy” to investigate the suspects involved in the murder, his uncle, mom, Polonius, etc, and to interpret their responses to all of his actions. With all this pressure placed upon him, he contemplates whether he should commit suicide and struggles with himself as to where he will end up, as in heaven or hell, after he has completed his duties to the ghost. In the world, fear has always kept people from doing things that they really wanted to do. Through the theme of fear, Shakespeare explores Hamlet’s internal conflict with the meaning of life in order to further explain how every decision that is made, has a sense of unfamiliarity in the outcome. In society, this type of fear keeps people from taking that leap of faith when making futuristic decisions.

“I'm afraid to die,...I think about it all of the time... it haunts me Jack, I can't get it off my mind. I know I'm not supposed to experience such a fear so consciously and so steadily.” (DeLillo, 186-187)