*Note

I accidentally posted my blog in the middle of it so it is posted in 2 parts, be sure to start with Death and Emotion then the Continued Death and Emotion. :D

Continue to Death and Emotions

     Often we are decided to be either emotional people or unemotional people by the society in which we live. If we are close to someone and they pass away we may cry hysterically or be depressed for many days following the funeral until we are able to move on or are forced to have to continue life. Say a person was depressed for the two weeks following a loved one's death and funeral. Some societies would say that it is overreacting. For example, our own society would probably think that this would be too much becuase most businesses only provide three grievence days when a loved one passes away. If a loved one dies peacefully and we are at terms with this loss we may show little to no emotion. Some people in our society may say that we, or the person, is being completely unemotional but in reality we know that the person had lived a good life and had died peacefully without any pain so we do not need to mourn for them. Many people looking on at this "unemotional person" may not even know the circumstances of the death and therefore just assume that the person is being unemotional about the death and loss.
       So, exactly how much do we, and our society, expect to be too much or not enough emotional responce? I know that I am certaintly not able to handle the loss of a loved one very well and is probably considered as an emotional person or would be considered more emotional than Meursault from The Stranger.  In reality though, we know that everyone is going to die and that there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop it. If someone like Meursault could have come to terms with this fact then why put them on trial for being unemotional? So I leave with a question and a statement that contradict each other for people to think about which side they are on. Death in involuntary why should we show emotion when we know it will happen no matter what? Death is always tragic and should be mourned in respect for dead.

Death and Emotions

       In this month's blog I am going to try and write about a more general topic, we'll see how this works out. Death often comes in many forms. If death comes one way and we react hysterically we might be considered as overreacting. However if death comes in another way and we do not show much emotion, or many emotion at all we are considered as being cold, detached, and unemotional in all other aspects of life. When death occurs in life what is supposed to be our reaction? How much emotion does society think we should have?
      In our latest read, The Stranger, the main character Meursault doesn't show any emotion outwardly when his mother passes away. When he murders an Arab shortly after and goes to trial they manipulate his actions to basically say that he didn't show sadness when his mother died and he went out with a woman, Marie, the afternoon after his mother's funeral. For what we know, his mother passed away peacefully, she wasn't in much pain for long and she didn't suffer. So really Meursault should have been thankful that she wasn't in much pain for long and that could be possibly why he didn't show any sadness at her funeral. If she would have died painfully, or suffered from a long term illness, or even have been murdered that would have been more demanding for a more emotional responce from Meursault.
        It is true, that in life many people cry no matter what when a person that they were close to dies. However if someone that we are not very close to passes away peacefully we often show little to no emotion, such as the responce by Meursault. Since he had put his mother in a home and had grown farther apart from her he could have viewed her more as a stranger than as a loved one, reacting the way we often react to a death of a person we know only vaguely.