How death frees people
Introduction
With the many beautiful moments in life that people have and cherish, in the end, we all die. Knowing that the conclusion of our lives is death, what is the meaning of life? Are the decisions we make in life alter our lives, or are we supposed to go through life without purpose knowing we are going to die? This is some of the questions we ask ourselves when faced with the painful truth that we are going to die. Is life concise? Experiences have shown that life is not short as we are made to believe, at least for some. What should we do between birth and death? Does it even matter? In the short stories “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, and “The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin, teaches us that death is the end of life and the beginning of another. Also, death liberates people and gives some people a new perspective about life.
Death and life.
In the two short stories “The story of an hour” and “Happy Endings” shows us that we die in the end. One of the essential things in life is the memories we have and leave behind. In “Happy Endings” all the relationships end with the couple in the relationship having a good marriage, sharing love, being there for each other and having happy memories for themselves and the children they leave behind. Such moments are important that the characters go to different lengths to have moments to remember. Sadly, some figures don’t get that chance in life, as in case B and C of the scenarios in “Happy Endings”. Lack of such moments in life make life seem meaningless, a point shared in “The story of an hour”, and this can make people rejoice with the news of a person dying. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The story “The story of an hour” gives a clear picture of how people cherish good moments in life and the lack of such moments makes one feel like a slave in life, making life very long, in contrast to the common belief held that life is short.
Is life short?
This story has taught me that the timeframe of life is dependent on how happy a person is in life. If one has a happy life, then life becomes short. If a person has an unhappy and loveless life, life becomes very long. Such perception has been reinforced by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity where it is interpreted as “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity” (McFadden). In the story, Mrs Mallard is told of the demise that had fallen her husband, and now realizes she is now free. That day Mrs Mallard is given the news she remembers it was just a day that she had thought that life was long (Chopin 9). This is explained by her actions and thoughts when she now claims that she is now free and there will be no powerful will bending hers, a sign that her husband used to have the final say in their relationship. She also admits that she never loved her husband.
In the story “Happy Endings,” the characters go to different lengths to get an ideal relationship. This makes their lives have a lot of problems, ranging from extramarital affairs, taking drugs, to pleasing a person who doesn’t care about the others, to killing each other. This makes life seem very long and worthless if a person’s desire goes unfulfilled. However, with the right partner, life looks very short, with every moment being joy an fulfilment that one wishes to have more time.
Death frees us.
With the death of her husband, Mrs Mallard is now free. ‘“Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering’ (Chopin 6). Her husband’s death freed her from being told what to do. She got released from a loveless relationship, and she can now live her life for herself, with no one to live for her now. Her husband’s death was the lifetime chance she had in living a free life. With the face to face encounter with her husband, in the end, Mrs Mallard dies from her heart problem, of “Joy that kills” with the realization that her freedom was dead on arrival. Liberation through death is still depicted in the story “Happy Endings” in case C where Madge is married to John. John kills his Mary, whom they are having an extramarital affair with after he finds her with another man. Through his death, Madge is freed from a husband who is having affairs and ends up with an understanding man (Atwood).
Death is the end of misery.
With all the memories we have in life, death is the final phase of our lives. However, death is also the end of misery to people. In “The story of an hour,” the death of Mrs Mallard signifies the death of her suffering in life. She is finally happy that she is now free. However, her death is since her husband was not dead, as he was not at the scene of the accident. Her death marks the departure of her misery in life. The same case applies to Madge and John’s relationship in “Happy Endings” where John kills himself. This marks the end of his misery in life, with the fact that he is ageing and his girlfriend is having an extra affair, just as he is. John’s problems started with his age, and instead of embracing old age, he ends up with a younger woman who has a relationship with another man of her age, making John feel old and ends up killing them and himself. John’s death removes misery from Madge’s life. Though the story does not tell us if Madge knew of the affair, the effects of it can contribute to a lack of good relationship with John, and his death can signify the end of her misery. After mourning, Madge ends up in a better relationship with a happy ending.
Googlegram Art by Joan
Joan Fontcuberta googlegram pictures depict the world according to his imagination. He imagination gives him a view not shared by many and causes criticisms from different places. Such opinion is shared in the story “The story of an hour,” where Mrs Mallard has her view of marriage, freedom and love, a view not shared or even noticed by her sister or their husbands. Mrs Mallard sees marriage as oppression and love as a mystery, with death as the only way she can be free in this world. In the end, death gives her the freedom she wanted, but not in the way she wanted it.
Joan Fontcuberta use of google images and breaking them into oversized versions do not come close to the digital photos that his artwork comes from. They lack a lot in photography (Clement). Some critics have even accused his work of offending some races. For instance, a mosaic photo of the Nazi concentration camp was the cause of controversy after a book fair was charged with denying holocaust (JTA). There are also controversies surrounding a picture giving search engine names of top contractors, officials, and soldiers in the DoD final Report of the Independent Panel (Archive Noise).
Conclusion
Death and life are viewed differently by people. Some celebrate life and mourn death. Other celebrate end. The moments that people have in life determines the person’s perspective. The best way to live life is by taking the advantages in our lives and not waste it in things that don’t matter. Also, in life, it is crucial to have the right people in your life, which makes life worth living. This is the reason that makes people say that life is short. Otherwise, with the wrong people and relationships, life is very long, and there can be no end to misery, with the only solution being to ending one’s life. Death is the conclusion in our lives, but the memories people have makes life worth living.
Works Cited
Archive Noise. Zabriskie Gallery, Jan. 2006, http://www.zabriskiegallery.com/-joan-fontcuberta–artist-statement. Accessed 2nd Dec. 2019.
Clement, Tracey. Joan Fontcuberta: Googlegrams. The Sydney Morning Herald, July 2007, https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/joan-fontcuberta-googlegrams-20070727-gdqpoa.html. Accessed 2nd Dec. 2019.
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Happer Perennial Classics, 2014.
JTA. Book fair accused of Holocaust denial. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Oct. 2007, https://www.jta.org/2007/10/10/default/book-fair-accused-of-holocaust-denial. Accessed 2nd Dec. 2019.
McFadden, Christopher. “10 Ways You See Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in Real Life.” Interesting Engineering, Dec. 2016, https://interestingengineering.com/10-ways-can-see-einsteins-theory-relativity-real-life-keyword-theory-relativity Accessed 2nd Dec. 2019.