"It's the writer's commentary on the one thing we all fear and cannot control - the loss of our loved one's to death. In our tweens, teens, twenties and even thirties we feel immortal, as if nothing can hurt us...death seems like a story in a book unless of course we suffered from it directly, in which case it is all too real, and we grow up faster. By the time we reach our 40s, most of us have lost people dear to us, and death begins to become more and more of an unwanted companion. "
It is a fairly modern thing... or maybe I should say it is a situation that only those of us in 'developed' nations have... Because for much of the world they still see death from an early age. Infant mortality is still high in some countries. War, poverty, famine, and disease are still stalking people around the world, we are very lucky that it is rarer here.
When I read 'Little Women' as a child, and Beth died, it was a shock to me. In most stories I read no one died. But of course in the world that Louisa May Alcott grew up in there were a lot of deaths (her little sister really did die, and she served as a nurse during the Civil War, seeing a great many young men die). I'm sure Alcott wrote about her sister's death because it was true, and because people weren't trying to protect young readers from having sad things happen.
But somehow now days TV viewers resent it if they aren't protected, as you say: they can get very angry if a favorite character dies (as though in life we get to pick and chose who lives or dies).
Of course I'm aware that I have a bit of an unhealthy fascination with death, probably from having lost too many people I loved.... Anyway, I enjoyed your post (I hope no one gets upset with you about it!).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-03-24 03:05 am (UTC)It is a fairly modern thing... or maybe I should say it is a situation that only those of us in 'developed' nations have... Because for much of the world they still see death from an early age. Infant mortality is still high in some countries. War, poverty, famine, and disease are still stalking people around the world, we are very lucky that it is rarer here.
When I read 'Little Women' as a child, and Beth died, it was a shock to me. In most stories I read no one died. But of course in the world that Louisa May Alcott grew up in there were a lot of deaths (her little sister really did die, and she served as a nurse during the Civil War, seeing a great many young men die). I'm sure Alcott wrote about her sister's death because it was true, and because people weren't trying to protect young readers from having sad things happen.
But somehow now days TV viewers resent it if they aren't protected, as you say: they can get very angry if a favorite character dies (as though in life we get to pick and chose who lives or dies).
Of course I'm aware that I have a bit of an unhealthy fascination with death, probably from having lost too many people I loved.... Anyway, I enjoyed your post (I hope no one gets upset with you about it!).