Death Theme in Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, after she struggled with the loss of her young daughter and her husband, Ann Rice created the character Azriel in her novel "Servant of the Bones", which focuses on destiny, life after death and life as a Jew in ancient times. Whereas, after the death of his mother and wife, Edgar Allan Poe, in his story "The Raven" describes the untimely death of a beautiful woman and the pain that must be endured with such a loss. The paper concludes that the pain and suffering experienced by these writers influenced them to raise many questions regarding the existence of an afterlife, of consciousness beyond death and of the continuation of earthly torment.

From the Paper:

"Azriel is a spirit seeking out the writer so he can get him to write his life tale. When the spirit finds Jonathon sick, he nurses him back to health. When Jonathan recovers, Azriel starts to tell his story. Azriel goes back in time to ancient Babylon and speaks of himself and his community. He can see and speak with the god, Marduk, since he was chosen as his personal god when Azriel was a child. Marduk is the main god of Babylon and it is believed that he built the city. Azriel becomes the city's new representation of Marduk."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rice, A., 1996, Servant of the Bones (1st edition), Ballantine Publishing Group, New York, NY, Alfred A. Knopf
• Poe, Edgar Allen, 1845, retrieved on June 27, 2008 from www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literature/Lore/TheRaven
• The Temple Institute, retrieved on June 27, 2008 from http://www.templeinstitute.org/solomons_temple
• Nelson, K., Ann Rice Biography, retrieved on June 27, 2008, http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/rice.bio
• Poe, Edgar Allen, The Philosophy of Composition, published in Graham's Magazine, April, 1846, retrieved on June 28, 2008 from web.uvic.ca/~joanj/raven/poe.htm

More papers on Death Theme in Literature:

• Analytical Essay # 67389 : "Death Theme in Poetry"
• Comparison Essay # 65318 : "Literal and Metaphorical Death in Literature"
• Analytical Essay # 66137 : "Death in Literature"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: