Katrine Schoen

Death


A permanent cessation of all vital functions: The end of all life. Sounds rather morbid does it not? The way it promotes ghastly thoughts and plots of murder. The vivid images of slaughtered corpses. Maybe even the typical graveyard scene with headstones that state the individual’s gory demise. Destined never to see the light of day for the rest of eternity. And who else better to assist the said damned than the old bone man himself, Death. The skeleton shrouded in a cloak of night that carries a scythe.
Death isn’t such a bad thing though, or, at least not it’s history and how it has helped shape literature and inspired authors.
The history of how the word came to be isn’t as morbid though. Death was an
Old Norse word, ‘Deyjah’ that was adopted by the gothic language as ‘dauthus’. It was soon turned into ‘death’ by the Old English language which has stayed throughout history and is still used in today’s modern language.
Many authors have been inspired by death and have incorporated it into their writings. Take for example “Shakespeare’s Sister”; at the end of the story, the main character committed suicide due to her failure in life to become an actress / writer during the Elizabethan era. Or, “The Giver” where the second twin was released from the community by euthanasia. Or, better yet, the dying soldier on the battle field.
“My next step was to look for the beast which was the cause of so much wretchedness: for I had at length, firmly resolved to put it to death” – E.A. Poe; Black
Cat.
As you can see, the use of this word has widely varied. But, unlike its victims, it has not reached rigormortis; but continues to live.