Death has been an important theme in literature, with its countless interpretations showcasing the various ways in which it has influenced different authors. Thomas Hardy's novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, is described by Hardy as "The Life and Death of a Man of Character" and begins as events begin to lead Henchard to his death. Dylan Thomas, however, may have based his description of death on how it affected his own life at the time of his writing. He wrote his poetry over a long period of time, from a young man untouched by personal death to an adult who had lost his father and experienced war. Wilfred Owen, on the other hand, was surrounded by loss as he wrote his poetry, in which he recounted the horrors of death that he and his comrades experienced. He is revered as one of the most acclaimed poets of the Great War, the same war that cost him his life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay Thomas began writing when he was a teenager and his poems were quickly inspired by death, most notably in "And Death Doesn't will have no domination. , his first published poem. Thomas used the theme of death to inspire the idea that no matter what kind of life you lead, death will never truly have control over you. This is demonstrated in the line "when their bones are cleansed and the clean bones are gone" followed by "they will have stars on their elbows and on their feet"; for this implies that even though death has claimed your earthly body, a part of you will always remain. This spectral afterlife resembles scientific theory more than the Christian beliefs that were the majority in Thomas's time. The image of stars becoming reflects the scientific theory that all matter, including that in our own bodies, was produced in stars. This could be interpreted as Thomas writing about an afterlife in which we return once more to the stars to continue the cycle. Death appears several times in Hardy's novel, notably during the disappearance of Susan, Lucetta and Henchard. Through Susan's death, Hardy explores the idea that the dead have no dignity. Mother Cuxsom, speaking of Susan's last wishes, said: "and the things that one would not wish to see, everyone will see", meaning that all the secrets that Susan had tried to keep would be revealed. and any dignity she had would be shattered. This is effective in changing the mood of the novel, giving it an air of anticipation regarding the contents of a letter that Susan had written during her last day of life, with instructions "not to open it until Elizabeth Jane's Marriage. This marks the beginning of Henchard's slow fall from power, as not only did he lose Susan but, as the letter would reveal, his own daughter had died years ago and he was not Elizabeth's father- Jane. the secrets would be revealed illuminates new meaning in Thomas's phrase, "when their bones are cleansed and the clean bones are gone", because choosing someone clean is another way of saying "take all they have" . Once she died, Susan was left with only her secrets, but the reader knew they would inevitably be taken away from her as well. Not all of Thomas's poetry shares the optimistic outlook demonstrated in his earlier works. His famous portrait of death, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” takes a more pessimistic and violent approach, as it was written for his father who was nearing blindness and death. The poet implores his father to “rage”. Andnot accept your fate without a fight. Thomas writes "curse me, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray", because his father had a strong and independent spirit, but had been weakened and tamed by his illness. promised in this poem is simpler than the one described previously, described only as “this good night”. Yet, in this single line, the poet expresses his fear of death as an unknown force trying to take his father away from him. By comparing death to night, Thomas creates many images, one being a description of the helplessness he feels, because night is an inevitable part of the day, just as death is an inevitable part of life. life. Another interpretation is that Thomas is adopting a childish fear, as the fear of night and darkness is a phobia shared by children around the world. Both interpretations create an atmosphere of foreboding about the poem because, unlike “And death shall have no dominion,” the reader is not offered any positive side to death. Sleep is a common simile used to refer to death in poetry, but in Wilfred Owen's poem. “Asleep”, the poet implies that death is easier than life. The verse: “He sleeps less trembling, less cold, Than we who wake, and when we wake we say Alas! refers to the act of dying as less painful than the grief of those who were left behind. Unlike Thomas, who focuses on death as a concept, and Hardy, who blames the living for many of his written deaths, Owen uses his poem to place blame. death itself. The lines "Sleep took him by the forehead" and "Death took him by the heart" use death and sleep as nouns rather than states of being, personifying them as the causes of suffering of his poems. can be found by looking at them through the prism of war. While Owen was writing, everyone was looking for a scapegoat on whom to place blame for the damage caused by the war, and because of the scale of the events that started World War I, everyone was able to find it. blame different people. Owen, instead of looking to a leader or country to blame, offers the reader the choice of blaming death itself. The illnesses suffered by members of his family significantly changed the way Dylan Thomas viewed death. His first poem had been calm. and controlled in the choice of its formulation. For example, lines like “Shall be one,” “The windings of the sea,” and “Where a flower blew” use soft, quiet language, attempting to create a placid view of death in its reader. However, in his later poem Thomas writes with more ferocity, producing lines like "no forked lightning" and "who sees with blinding sight". Although both poems use natural imagery, the latter creates a much more powerful effect, which could show how Thomas wanted to inspire his father. in the struggle against death and is an example of how, like Owen, Thomas describes the painful effect of death on those left behind. Susan's death also allows Hardy to explore how death affects the living, through the effect it had on the townspeople. It was once traditional to place coins over the eyes of the recently deceased so that they could pay the smuggler who took them to the afterlife. Susan requested that her coins be buried after use and left alone, "don't spend them, because I shouldn't like it", but despite her request, it is revealed that "Christopher Coney, went and dug them up and spent them", with the excuse that "whyshould death deprive life of four pence?" This question has the effect of undermining the effect of death on life, because once Susan was gone, there was nothing she could do to affect their decisions and the characters alive, although some thought it was wrong, "it was a cannibalistic act", agreed that there was no way it could affect her now, "she is powerless to prevent this or anything. it be now". Hardy's depiction of life versus death views death and the afterlife as less important than life and the living. He focuses almost solely on the townspeople and their opinions immediately after her passing, because where Susan's immediate family would grieve more deeply, these characters focused on how they had been personally involved in her final moments. Lucetta's death was radically different from Susan's, as was Susan's. . Thomas's later poem was different from the first. Where Susan died calmly, "After this her mother remained silent and drowsy", Lucetta's illness is described as "great mental agony". Hardy seems to use their deaths to reflect the way women lived; Susan is often described as "plain" and "sweet" by Henchard and as "not what one would call messy or sharp" by Newson. These mannerisms were reflected in his death, as very little is explained about his illness. The reader is only told that she grew weaker and weaker until she quietly disappeared. Lucetta, on the other hand, was killed almost directly by her past. To Hardy's contemporary reader, sex outside of marriage was considered deeply shameful, and although Hardy does not specify the extent of their relationship, it is implied that Lucetta and Henchard had a sexual relationship in the past. When reading the love letters written by Lucetta, the residents' reactions are not one of anger or disgust, but of pride. They suggest a skimming ride, creating effigies of the parties involved and parading them through town on a donkey, as if it were a form of social justice. This suggests that Hardy relates their reactions to the social structure of the time. Many of the townspeople dislike Lucetta as she puts on airs and acts above them, "she was never one to thank me", giving their actions an air of petty nastiness, which adds to the tragedy felt when Lucetta miscarries and dies from their resentment.Hardy used death to illuminate Henchard's slow fall, as his world seems to collapse around him. Hardy's own description of the novel is "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", describing the events of the plot as a slow progression towards inevitable death. The loss of Susan leads Henchard, through his letter, to discover that Elizabeth Jane was not his daughter. Lucetta's death contributed to deepening his depression. While contemplating his losses, Hardy writes "Susan, Farfrae, Lucetta, Elizabeth - everything was gone from him", a reminder that these characters had almost entirely constituted his life in the reader's eyes, as had the years without them. were ignored by Hardy. This writing technique highlights the loss of self that Henchard is going through and creates a vivid sense of dread for the reader because it foreshadows his upcoming death. Another interpretation of this time jump is that it was used to humanize Henchard. Before this point he appears detached, a man capable of selling his wife and child to a stranger and risking Lucetta's reputation by abandoning her as well, but his dependence on those he loved begins to deteriorate. deteriorate its unsympathetic characteristics, leaving only pity for thefrom others. reader, because he has nothing left. The Mayor of Casterbridge was said to be "a man of character" and, throughout the chapter of Henchard's life that Hardy writes about, we see Henchard adopting many different characteristics which can be illuminated in comparison. to the deaths of the various men in “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Dylan Thomas's poem focuses on "wise", "good", "wild", and "grave" men, as well as finally Thomas's own father. Henchard is wise and good especially in his years during the time frame of the novel. He managed to recover from the shame of having sold his wife and having almost nothing in life, to a respected mayor. When he sees Susan again, he tells her "I don't drink now - I haven't had one since that night" as if he is desperately trying to prove that he has become a better man. The wise men in Thomas's poem fear for their actions in life, as if they were wise “without lightning”. Like Henchard, these men long for life so they can prove their worth, a contrast that creates a keen sense of fear, for even though the wise men knew their time was near, Henchard still does not know his impending death. the book progresses and problems arise, it gets wilder and wilder. His argument and fight with Farfrae reveals an almost bloodthirsty side to his character, with the line "this is the end of what you started this morning. Your life is in my hands". In the poem, Thomas writes that wild men "learn too late that they have saddened him on the way", this could be interpreted as men learning, too close to death, of their many mistakes and their consequences. Henchard, after the fight, "became possessed by an irresistible desire to see Farfrae again", to gain forgiveness for his folly, however, as events continue, he is unable to restore his former friendship or write any of his wrongs. Critic Laurence Mazzeno writes that "his incomprehension and his lack of moderation in his desires incite him to a brutal aggression followed by pain and regret"; this sheds new light on the wild men who "caught and sang the sun in flight", because the power and majesty that the sun represents shows the lack of moderation in the lives of men. As he approaches his death, Henchard is especially suited to the description of the wild man. serious men, as he begins to think desperately of all the things he could have done, but his death itself is more closely linked to Thomas's description of his father. Thomas begs his father to “curse me, bless me now”, because he fears he will slowly sink into death. When told of Henchard's last moment, it is revealed that he was calm and, after thinking for hours in misery, he “grew weak; and today he is dead.” This calm, almost pathetic death is a shock for the reader after the dynamism of his life. Just as Dylan Thomas couldn't believe it from his father, the reader and other characters find it hard to believe that Henchard would "go softly into that good night" and succumb to death without a fight. During World War II, including the events of the Holocaust and the use of the H-bomb, Dylan Thomas feared both war and the future of humanity. During the war itself, he was classified as Grade III, meaning he would be among the last to be drafted, due to his lungs and history of illness. Thomas drank excessively during the war, when his friends were all going off to fight and he struggled to provide for his family. The poem that best illuminates Thomas's view of the war is "A refusal to mourn the death, by fire, of a,.