Death and dying in literature

Abstract

This paper considers how death and dying are presented in literature. A wide range of texts, principally but not exclusively from the English language tradition, is used to illustrate themes. Broad categories are suggested for the study of death: some authors give personal accounts of their impending death or their sense of bereavement; some use literature to structure and order our thoughts about death; and some treat death as a literary device, using it, for example, as a symbolic representation of the decay of society. It concludes that the biggest obstacles that health professionals and patients face as they attempt to understand death in literature are concerned not with a lack of appropriate emotional depth, but with difficulties either in understanding the conventions of literature or in coming to terms with the cultural gaps imposed by time and place.