The Inescapable Theme of Death
Aria Turner
ENG 125: Introduction to Literature
Stephanie Miclot
May 19, 2014

Dying is part of the cycle of life. We’re born, we live, we grow old, and we die. Where we go after that remains a mystery. Everyone has a fear of dying, since nobody know what happens, people often wonder where your go. Death is a recurring theme in life and in all forms of literature. Since this theme has become so popular, many different works of literature have been created from short stories to poems. As an effort to help society cope with the inevitable event of death, many stories were created showing a softer more serene side to death. The poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickens, and allegory “I Used to Live Here Once”, by Jean Rhys both share an overall theme of death. There are also other themes such as acceptance, and journey. Although the story told by Rhys, ends very intensely, with the character realizing she has died. Both works still have the same theme. These two pieces of literature, share similar themes which are conveyed in different yet unique ways. Both works are told. To understand the work I will briefly describe who the authors are and about their background. Jean Rhys was born in a place in Dominica known as Rousseau, in 1890. Jean Rhys, not her name at birth was actually born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams until she changed it around 1924. Her father was from Britain and her mother was creole. Her great-grandfather, a slave owner owned a plantation in the Dominican Republic. She grew up predominantly around black people until she left to attend school in England In 1907. It is said that her childhood experiences are reflected in her writing. She attended school until she was sixteen when her father died. She held a series of jobs one a chorus girl, and another as a model. After that while in Paris, Jean marries her first husband and has a son who dies two weeks later. Jean has a daughter, and then sometime after she has an affair with an American writer by the name of Ford Maddox, he is the one who influences to write. This affair happens because jeans husband is sentenced to prison for two years. Two years following her divorce from her first husband jean remarries again, but not with Ford Maddox. Her affair with Ford Maddox ended and influences the creation of four novels, “Quartet (1928)”, “After leaving Mr. Mackenzie (1931)”, “Voyage in the Dark (1934)”, “Good Morning, Midnight (1939)”. Her second husband dies in 1945 and then Jean marries her third husband two years later in 1947. Jean has admitted in the past that she is the protagonist in all of her stories. She retired from writing and settled in England. Many people though her to be dead until the BBC produced a dramatization of one of her works “Good Morning, Midnight”. She had been working on Wide Sargasso Sea for nearly three decades changing it constantly until she finally published in 1966. Jean portrayed her experiences on the plantation her great- grandfather owned. In 1936 the slaves were emancipated and the plantation was burned to the ground. When she made the trip to visit home for the first time since she left home at a young age; she saw the plantation. The sight of it affected her so much that she wrote the story “Wide Sargasso Sea”, considered to be her most famous work. Jean suffered from depression her whole life. Being a mixed breed in a world that was defined by black and white, she had troubles. In those days creoles were known as “White Niggers”, or” White Cockroach”. She never felt as though she belonged. Regardless of her success jean suffered from depression until the day she died. It reflected heavily in her writing, she wrote more volumes of short stories as well as one volume of autobiographies. After that nearing her death, Jean Rhys wrote I Used to Live Here Once (1976). Jean Rhys passed away on May 14, 1979. Emily Dickinson was born December 10, 1830 in Massachusetts. Emily was educated at Amherst Academy now (Amherst College) was considered to be one of the greatest American poets. She began writing as a teenager influenced by William Wordswoth, and Ralph Emerson. At the age of seventeen Emily started to become a recluse. Emily had begun to experience death in her life, with friends dying all around her. She was already depressed, but these deaths made it worse, and it was assumed that the death of her longtime friend and tutor that caused the most heartache. Although she was never married nor had any children, Emily Dickenson had a few male suitors, one of which there was talk about her marrying. Her strong sense of creativity helped her to create nearly 1800 pieces of poetry, most of which were created during her late twenties to early thirties. Her work remained private from public eye with the exception of a few pieces, until after her death. It is said that her obsession with death began after the death of Judge Otis p. lord in 1884. It is assumed she was deeply in love and that she took his death very hard. She was a bit of a hermit, surrounding herself with mostly family and a few close friends. She remained a recluse only leaving a few times for hospital visits until her death on May 15, 1886. Like their poems, and short stories, there seems to be a trending theme of death and depression in both author’s lives. Both women struggled with losing loved one up until the day they died. What is a theme anyway? According to (Clugston, 2010), “a theme is the idea behind the story”. One of the first themes shared between the two is journey. In the short story “I used to live here once”, the young woman in the story begins a journey to a familiar place in her life. The story is told in third-person limited omniscient persona, which according to (Clugston 2010), “A limited omniscient point of view is when the thoughts and feelings of only one of the characters are related through the narrator”. Third person view better helps the reader understand the characters feelings. This story is also rich in symbolism, the symbols conveyed in this story help bring the overall theme to light. Without them the reader may come to a different conclusion about the plot and theme of the story. The many symbols in the story also will lead the reader to interpret different things about the story. The journey for this woman starts at the river where she used to cross. She starts out very confident, happy then as she carries on with her journey she becomes angry and irritated. As she begins her journey, the woman describes stones in symbolic ways that describe her life. She begins with the first stone "there was the round unsteady stone, the pointed one, the flat one in the middle - the safe stone where you could stand and look around"(Rhys, 1976). The last placement in the river was described as being the final and unsafe stone before she is standing on the other side. Her whole life and journey to the afterlife is described by each stone. The first stone represents her life starting out. The roundness probably represents her family surrounding her and unsteady is probably her life as a child. The next stone described as the pointed one represents a new adventure in the girl’s life, growing up and change. The middle stone represents a time in her life where she was safe and felt secure, and had a chance to figure out life. The final stone represents her life after she has met with grief and depression. As the woman's journey continues, she walks along a familiar road that has changed a bit and a little UN kept. Even though things have changed the narrator paints the picture that the woman is still okay to continue with her journey even if she did not approve of the changes. “Yet it was the same road and she walked along feeling extraordinarily happy” (Rhys, 1976). The changing look to the sky gives the reader the idea that the end of her journey is drawing near, the woman does not recognize the skies appearance. “It was a fine day, a blue day. The only thing was that the sky had a glassy look that she didn't remember"(Rhys, 1976). Glassy skies represent a window that she is looking through to see the other world she has left behind. Her journey ends at a home she used to live in.” The screw pine was gone, so was the mock summer house called the ajoupa” (Rhys, 1976). The ajoupa is a hut that is made of sticks and twigs, or whatever materials that can be found in the woods. You can tell the narrator is describing the plantation her great-grandfather used to own. The narrator even made sure to mention the car parked out in front if the house. "It was strange to see a car standing in front of it"(Rhys, 1976). That symbolism shows how much time that has actually passed since she died, when she was alive there may not have been any cars, or the family couldn’t afford one. Perhaps the woman’s final destination is back to her childhood home. The children playing that ignored her could represent how she was treated being a British Creole girl in the Dominica’s. A journey to your final place is one we must all eventually take. The idea that there is an afterlife has comforted us for many years. What happens when you do not want to go? Well what if a mysterious person comes and offers to take you? In The Emily Dickens Poem “Because I could not stop for death”, explains a similar journey to that of Rhys, except the woman’s journey in this poem was not taken alone. The journey is told as if the narrator was thinking of her own life, or the path a loved one may have traveled, or just motivated by the events in her surrounding life. At the beginning of this journey, the title Because I could not stop for death, tells you this woman is scared, since the reader can automatically sense that, the narrator adds in “he kindly stopped for me "( 1-2). This could potentially calm the readers. The man in the carriage or death is portrayed as this nice being, since there is no physical description of him you have to wonder if he was attractive since the woman went with him so willingly, or was he a gentle frail old man. The woman obviously had a fear of dying, which is why she ignored death. Once the carriage comes for her, the narrator describes how this woman's mortal duties are finished. “And I had put away /my labor and my leisure too" (lines, 6-7). These things will no longer be necessary, since she is now just a fixture in the world looking like a guardian, never to interact with civilization again. They drove along slow as if to give her time to adjust to the thought of death, and to say goodbye to the world. Passing everything, and everyone along the way, they leave everything behind. “We passed the setting sun/ or rather he passed us”. (Lines, 12-13). The narrator’s use of the word passing suggests that they were invisible to everyone. The sun is setting and it is getting cold. The narrator mentions the clothing the woman is wearing suggesting she is dressed for her burial. “The dews grew quivering and chilly for only /gossamer my gown/ my tippet only tulle" (lines, 14-16). Her becoming cold could also be a part of the physical stages of death. Some people associate cold damp gloom with death. The day has passed the way they had passed the children on the playground. They passed her youth and childlike things she used to do and they come to a new day. “We passed the school/where the children strove/at recess, in the ring” (8-10). They come to the place where there is freshly laid dirt, we do not know if it is her grave but the narrator made point to mention it. The reader gets the idea that this is the woman’s final resting place because of the way she is dressed. Her attire is suitable for a woman to be buried in. Another theme that stands out in these works is acceptance. Accepting death is very hard, so there are five stages of grief that people usually go through. An article in News Bank describes these stages as; Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In both the play and poem both women show signs of going through these stages. In the beginning of both journeys both women appear to be in denial because they just didn’t simply pass on to the other side. Next is anger both literary works give a bleak tone, but there is no indication that either woman was angry. The next stage is Bargaining, to me the journey is the bargain. They take this trip down memory lane before their final stop instead of going straight there. It’s like they are saying “look how wonderful my life is why should I leave it”? Depression comes next both women are obviously depressed of their circumstances once they find out they are dead. Last comes acceptance, both women accept their fate after the journey comes to an end. Some people that have had a loved one pass have a hard time accepting death as well as the people that passed on. In the piece “Because I could not stop for death" (Dickens), the character does not accept death until the carriage arrives. She had to be driven into eternity she did not go willingly. However, the final sentences would suggest that she had no clue she was deceased. “I first surmised the horses' heads/ were toward eternity" (lines 23-24). In “I used to live here once" (Rhys) the woman on her journey doesn't accept or realize her circumstances until the end as well. As she approaches the children in the field, she speaks and waves but they do not notice her. She moves in closer and the children still don’t notice her. It isn’t until she meets eyes with the little boy that she realizes that she is dead. Even after the children run in the house I don’t think she believed it. It’s hard to accept that you can no longer interact with the rest of the world. She was now just an unwelcomed visitor, watching life move on without her. It has to be a lonely feeling to scream as loud as your want to in someone’s face and no to be heard. I figure that’s why ghosts are portrayed as agree in movies. Nobody wants to die so they are angry until they have passed over to the other side. I imagine to woman in this poem felt lonely and a loss of control. Jean Rhys and Emily Dickenson did a great job expressing the way they see how death or the process of crossing over should be. The journey taken by each other women was through the vision of each author. Perhaps each person gets to choose the journey yon get to take to your final resting place both ladies lived during a time where people died frequently and, there was so much talk of death from religious people that it is normal for women like Rhys, and dickens to develop a fascination. Both authors did a great job of expressing with symbolism that death is real it is normal and we need to accept it. Both of these pieces share an overall theme, and that is death. Both narrators portrayed their work as if they had the thought of afterlife on their mind. Especially Emily Dickinson, she had a fond fascination for death. The message they are trying to send is that death is coming and your need to accept it with open arms. I believe they portrayed death in their stories how they want their transition to be. The narrator speaks of immortality in the beginning then in the end of the poem, one of the women are off to eternity in horse drawn carriage. It helps lessen the anxiety of the reader if the idea of immortality has been presented. Both literary works also portray some of the steps of grieving. First you have Knowing the history of Jean Rhys it is hard not to notice that the woman portrayed in this particular short story is her. I get the feeling Jean wrote this longing to be home before she passed away. In the end before her death it would seem that Jean was nostalgic for her youth and the home she knew as a child. Maybe she was hopeful that the journey taken by the woman is the journey she will take. The message I feel both authors are trying express to their readers is that death is not scary and whatever picture your must paint for yourself in order to accept it, is okay since Death is the necessary and final step in life.

References
Bender, T. K. (2010). Jean Rhys. Critical Survey Of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition, 1-5.

Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Emily Dickinson's Biography | Emily Dickinson Museum. (2009, January 3). Emily Dickinson's Biography | Emily Dickinson Museum. Retrieved May 7, 2014, from https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/emilys_biography
Honychurch, L. (n.d.). Jean Rhys Biography. . Retrieved May 7, 2014, from http://www.open.uwi.edu/sites/default/files/bnccde/dominica/centre/Jean%20Rhys%20Bio.htm

(2014, February 19). Remembering the five stages of grief. Journal and Republican, The (Lowville, NY). p. 5.

Sagar, A. (1992). World literature in review: English. World Literature Today, 66(3), 521.