Death: The End of Life - Destruction - Extinction

[Jim]

The title for this discussion is taken directly from the Merriam-Webster dictionary's definition of death.

There have been thousands of books written, both fiction and non-fiction, about death, an after-life, ghosts, spiritual encounters, etc.; with thousands more, undoubtedly, yet to be written.

A few readers have commented via the communication page of my novel's website that the treatment of death scenes was calloused and cold (their words, not mine), because they are described as though death was the absolute end of the deceased's existence, with no mention of their moving on to some type of after-life.

Even though my ego has trouble accepting the fact that the universe will carry on quite well after I am no longer a part of it, I personally do not believe in life after death in any form. For me, death is the cessation of existence. Except for a few famous or infamous people, most are forgotten within a couple of generations after they die. It is as though they never existed. Someone once told me that everyone dies twice - once when their lungs, heart, and brain cease to function and again when people stop talking about them.

Please post your personal attitude and belief regarding death and how you treat death if you write about it. Different opinions are what makes life interesting. Some of my best ideas come from others.

Whether you agree or disagree with my belief is your prerogative. The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that, if I am wrong, everyone will eventually know that I was wrong. If I am right, no one, including me, will ever realize that I was right. My ego really has trouble accepting that.

[Lily]

I also have the same belief, but I never write it that way. For me, the biggest consideration for a person's death, is what happens to the physical body after the point of brain dead. Decomposition is the obvious answer, but before that, lots of things can happen. I focus on the medical side of things for the most part, then interpret the physical into how it would make the character feel, physically and emotionally.

One of my beta readers for my psychological thriller was a bit iffy about my death scenes. She wasn't used to medical descriptions in a non-medical way, and also the emotions of the character at the point they're about to die. Well, it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Personally, I find death scenes in which the character then magically floats up into a shining light, rather cliche. It kinda makes me cringe. On the other hand, if a character is dying, as a reader, I fully expect to see the experience of dying. If I don't, it will feel like a let down and make me wonder, what was the point of showing this scene?

[Virginia]

Seeing someone I'm attached to die (and I assume I would be attached to you characters) and being told something like 'they're in a better place now' makes me want to punch people in the face. They're gone! Let me accept that! Let me greave!

[Lily]

Thing is, an explanation of the after life is a seperate matter than a death experience. Unless the story I'm writing really is about entering heaven or reincarnation, I won't write it as a substitute for showing a death experience and I won't even touch on any kind of afterlife explanation. It' not needed.

Personally, I have no problems with any kind of afterlife shown in fiction as long as it's within context.

I've studied near-death experiences a fair bit. People, in the face of death, will experience all the phases, denial, anger, etc, etc. In all the reported cases I've read, not one person immediately thought of the afterlife until they were brought back from the brink, so to speak, as an explanation for their experience, which can't be put into words otherwise.

So, what I'm saying is, I do prefer authors who aren't afraid ro show the full experience, whether it's physical, emotional, spiritual, I'll accept the context of the story as long as it's plausible enough.

[Lily]

The latter lol

Sure, seeing a white light is a common experience at the time, but it won't be until after the fact, they'll think, oh, maybe it was my grandmother I was seeing. Just an example.

Which could mean so many different things. It could be that the person compensated after the fact for the horrible experience (death sucks no matter what), or they really did see their dead grandmother but it can't be proven. It comes down to personal belief.

Either way, the actual experience of dying, right at that moment is more physical and possibly emotional, but rarely spiritual other than thinking, oh my god.

[Lily]

I think it's just exaggerated greatly in fiction, because it's easy. But it's definitely not mandatory. I feel it just depends on the context of the story and how it's written.

[G.G.]

I have a hard time believing those stories too. My father died twice in the course of a week. He was lucky to be in the hospital when he flat-lined. Both time, the first thing the doctors asked him as he woke up and could talk again was, "Did you see the light? Did you see anything at all?" To what my father answered, "Nope, nothing at all."
Of course, my father was a man who never remembered his dreams so maybe there's a relation there somewhere.

However, in fiction, it makes a greater impact than the plain 'The light went down'.

[Lily]

Depends on the author, I find. There can be many sources of inspirations, science, medecine, religion, folk tales, mythologies from around the world.

[Jim]

For whatever reason, four of my relatives had requested that I deliver their eulology at their funeral service when the time came. I did.

I think they only asked to get me to attend their funeral, since all four knew that I do not believe in nor attend funeral services or visit funeral homes or cemeteries. If I respect and care for someone, I prefer to visit and pay my respects while they are alive.

At the end of each eulogy, without exception, one or more attendees approached me to make known their displeasure over my use of the word, "died" instead of "passed on", passed away", "moved on", etc., and my not mentioning that the deceased was now in a better place.

I always politely responded by suggesting that perhaps the deceased should have asked the displeased attendee to deliver their eulogy instead. In each case, their reply was less polite.

[Lily]

Context and syntax are everything in fiction, I find.

If I was writing a war scene where soldiers die on the field, I would find it silly to use "passed on" because that would be so out of context with the realities of war.

If I was writing a funeral scene in say, a Southern Baptist church, I would use the words appropriate to the people who would attend a funeral at that kind of church.