Everyman

It depicts death as a man who has the ability to make conscious decisions, as a human would. Death is not a person, but giving it human qualities creates an air of mystery and curiosity as to why death would simply walk away or why it would stay and take a life. There is no rhyme nor reason for why death comes at a specific time or to claim a specific person.

Others point out that you cannot get into heaven based upon good works alone; if you could, then Christ’s sacrifice would have been meaningless. To gain salvation, you must receive God’s grace,

An allegory is a story in which characters, events, and settings symbolize abstract or moral

Martin Heidegger defines death as an “ownmost possibility of Da-sein,” in that it is non- relational potentiality-of-being that is certain yet indefinite but is “not to be bypassed.”2 As an ownmost possibility, every human being’s experience of death differs from one another due to the fact that one lives out his or her life differently. Even with the way one follows a routine of waking up in order to eat and carry out daily tasks and recuperating the energy one exhausted in sleep, every person creates a form of meaning in one’s daily encounters, which individualizes one person from another in these unique

Where there is life, there is death. Writers around the world have tried to define death; to give it meaning and explain its impact. A common literary device known as personification is often used to attribute human-like characteristics to death in an attempt to show their interpretations of death. Personification allows us to “use insight about ourselves to help us comprehend such things as forces of nature, common events, abstract concepts, and inanimate objects” (qtd. Quinn). In Billy Collins’ “My Number”, Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, and Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Death has been personified into characters that range from civil to malicious and content to discontent. “My Number” is about a man who is fearful of what he believes to be a cunning and cruel Death.

The theme death has always played a crucial role in literature. Death surrounds us and our everyday life, something that we must adapt and accept. Whether its on television or newpaper, you'll probobly hear about the death of an individual or even a group. Most people have their own ideas and attitude towards it, but many consider this to be a tragic event due to many reasons. For those who suffered greatly from despair, living their life miserably and hopelessly, it could actually be a relief to them. Death effects not only you, but also those around you, while some people may stay unaffected depending on how they perceive it.

As I read the reading “death”, I can conclude that the main idea for this reading that the author wants his readers to believe that the death is not something scary. We all should not be afraid about the fact that our bodies will cease to exist after death.

The quote can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways. Throughout our lives, death will surely occur. It may not befall us at this current moment, but

The play illustrated by Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt (2011), “Everyman” written by an anonymous writer late in the fifteenth-century (p. 265-287), interconnects religious allegories with worldly moral lessons on several main reasons that good deeds and works are required and needed, but they do not save humanity from spiritual death. The play conveys a story about Everyman’s (representing human individuals) natural life journey to death. The morality of the play helps the audience appreciate the history of Christianity. The focal point throughout the play is about humanities, life plan and a journey that requires every man to construct an unworldly firm foundation built up strong to help overcome any uprooting storm within a lifetime. Its personification comes in the form of the characters Everyman, Goods, and Goods Deeds, who embodied the concept of teaching lessons to humanity of the significance of living a Christ-centered life and learning to allow the heart restored and guided by God to help aid good judgement (Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt, 2011). Thomas F. Van Laan (1963) describes Everyman’s play, “The human action and its allegorical significance together form a distinct structural pattern which not only imposes discipline but also contributes its own intrinsic meaning”. From the start of the first phase 5-6, the first point of view of the play engages, “…That of our lives and ending* shows / How transitory we be all day.*…” (Adu-Gyamfi & Schmidt, 2011). The play displays how

By biological logic, we human beings will face death sooner or later in our life and death has its very own ways to approach us - a sudden deadly strike, a critical sickness, a tragic accident, a prolonged endurance of brutal treatment, or just an aging biological end. To deal with the prospect of death come different passive or active reactions; some may be scared and anxious to see death, some try to run away from it, and some by their own choice make death come faster. But Viktor Frankl, through his work Man’s Search for Meaning, and Bryan Doyle; in his essay “His Last Game” show us choices to confront the death, bring it to our deepest feelings, meaningful satisfaction. To me, the spirit of the prisoners at deadly concentration camps, Frankl’s Logotherapy theory of “. . . striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” (99), as well as the calmness of Doyle’s brother on his last ride, like an awaken bell, remind us of how precious life is, how we should find the significance in every act of living, determine to live a meaningful life at any circumstances; hence, when death comes, we can accept it without anxiety nor regrets.

In the play “everyman” death is depicted as something that is terribly feared as no one seemed ready for it, death is perceived as something that takes one away from the pleasures of this world.

Doing good deeds are an important part of the Christian life, but they do not grant an entrance into God’s kingdom. Everyman, as a morality play, does still have some Biblical truth and teaches a valuable lesson about life.

A greater reflection of all characters will be reviewed in further depth. They all give the same response, which is that none are able to accompany him on his journey. In reflection, it is easy to understand that the Everyman have put other things above what God truly wants. He has turned to his goods or riches to help him and even initially attempt to bribe Death, which is another fault. The everyman wants everything that he has or has obtained to be enough and to grant his with the accompaniment to be judge in front of the Creator. Many times Christians believe that all they they have will please the Lord, that the blessings that have been given to them or that they feel they have accomplished on their own is what will end the end provide them with salvation and good standing with the Lord. These are all false beliefs because as within the play just as Everyman discovers none of these will win or provide good favor with or from the Lord.

Both philosophers and non-philosophers stand on a level of equality with respect to death. There are no experts on death, for there is nothing to know about it. Even those who study the death process have no edge on the rest of us. We are all equals in thinking about death, and we all begin and end thinking about it from a position of ignorance. One trouble with discussing this topic is the instinctive fear of death. We tend to avoid death in our thoughts and actions. However, if we could forget our fears for a minute, we could see more clearly how interesting the concept actually is from a more detached point of view. One of the most interesting views on death comes from an ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates. In the texts that are going to be analyzed in this essay, Apology and Phaedo, are the retellings of words and thoughts of Socrates by Plato, a pupil and admirer of Socrates. Both texts lecture about the topic of death and though both are the thoughts of Socrates at different times of his life, they have similar and contrasting views on the outlook of death.

It urges men to recognize that they are all “brothers” and offenses committed upon each other are the result of ignorance of the aforementioned ability to distinguish between good and evil. It also wishes to emphasize that suffering in one's life is not the product of the external world, rather it is either a natural event that man must overcome or the soul committing “violence to itself” through thoughtless, foolish, or evil actions. This perspective encourages individuals to improve oneself rather than to blame the world for events beyond their control. Death is something to be embraced as a natural end to a very brief existence, “a mere point” as he calls it. Fame is discarded as meaningless, and with its death a narrative of a personal journey emerges rather than one that is endorsed by the observations of others. All this points to Marcus Aurelius being a man of great humility despite his great power and