Sociology 310: Death and Dying - Second Meeting

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

Welcome to class. Please have a seat and I will begin your first lecture.

Lecture Notes (Topics covered include a basic definition of death, the physiology of death, some basic terms.)

As many of you have stated you have previous experience with death, I'd like to discuss the stages of grieving in class.

1. Denial and Isolation
2. Anger, Rage, Envy, and Resentment
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Please share your thoughts, if you believe these are in the correct order, if any steps have been missed, or if one or more does not belong. Also, feel free to color your thoughts with personal examples as much as you'd like to share, and debate how different circumstances can change this system.

Assignment for Next Class: Read Emile Zola's short story - Death of Olivier Becaille (Scroll down) You will be given as essay topic from it in your next class to complete before you leave.

Comments

[actingltcrumpet.livejournal.com]

Archie is silent for a long time, mulling the topic over and barely aware of his classmates' words. When an appropriate break in the conversation comes, he speaks hesitantly.

"I can only speak for myself, and perhaps for what I observed from fellow officers and sailors. And, mind you, my experience is more in my reactions to witnessing frequent death than it is in witnessing the death of close friends or family. Simply put, that's the nature of life in the Navy."

He takes a deep breath, gathering into words the many vivid flashes of battles that inhabit some small back portion of his mind. "Naval warfare in my time is rough . . . brutal. I don't know if I can explain to you the fury and chaos of a ship-to-ship broadside, but I can tell you that you would be rare and lucky indeed to be killed instantly by a cannonball. More often the shot tears up the deck and sends splinters flying, and if those kill you instantly you are, again, lucky. Most often it's the infected wounds or the blood loss that kill; in the most painful cases, death is obscenely prolonged by a limb that is blown to bits and amputated only to fester from gangrene." He can see people around him grimacing and looking somewhat ill at ease.

"I've seen all of this," Archie goes on after a moment, "but at this point in my life it's just a fact of everyday existence. I know this appears to have little to do with the discussion at hand, but I am getting to my point now. I am currently at the 'Acceptance' stage, if you will, of living in the constant presence of fatal injury and death. After my first naval battle I was sick for days, and refused the company of my shipmates; for a brief time I was angry that my duty entailed all of this."

He smiles wryly. "Bargaining is not exactly an option in the King's service, however, so any thought I had of that was short-lived. And depression . . . well." A sudden pained haze passes over his face and is gone, though his hands are clenched around the edges of the desk. "I had other things to be depressed about at the time."

[drgrissom.livejournal.com]

In some way, it sounds like you are describing another society, one that has a distinct way of coping with death.

I thank you for sharing your story today.