Short Essay: The Validity Of Good Death

Death is inevitable. No matter how much an individual clings to life hoping and wishing to escape death, death always follows. Yet, in the presence of those who cling to life, there are individuals who accept that death is a part of life. Those individuals realize that from the moment of birth death is inevitable. In light of these two polar responses to death I find it important to try to understand the concept of “good death.” For the purpose of this short essay I will not dive into whether death is good. For now I will only explore the fluidity of “good death” by highlighting specific attitudes that have endured over the past 150 years and offer personal suggests for why I think these attitudes have persisted. One aspect of a good death that has not changed over the years is the idea of acceptance, more specifically, personal acceptance of death. In the 19th century a good death required an acceptance of death because death stared
Last words translate lived experiences into “a summation of purpose” of one’s life. This is as important in the 19th century as it is in 2015. In the 19th century last words were essential to a good death. Last words served as a narrative of one’s life composed of lessons for the living. Today last words continue to be important. It continues to let one speak their last thoughts to those they care about. It is a consolation for the self and for others, to know that they will be heard even after death. Last words tie the world of the living to the world of the dead. That is why it persists. One last element of a good death that I would like to mention is the idea of keeping something physical that belonged to the departed. In the 19th century and in 2015 keep sakes are symbolic representations of a loved one. Keep sakes help us to remember not only the departed as who that person was, but what the departed meant to us. It is a physical reminder that makes us remember that the departed