Bizarre Take #1: Idealization of Death

Bizarre Take #1:Idealization of Death

Death is a very interesting yet daunting concept. I mean, when the topic is brought up, usually the whole room goes silent and an awkward sense of eeriness spreads across the room. No one really talks about it, and usually people find a way to slip into another conversation. But as time has gone on, we have become so desensitized to the notion of death that it is simply characterized as a part of life. Not the end of life, just a second half to it. After our life is over, we get a new chance to live. A new chance to redo what we want and maybe approach things differently. At least I like to think of death this way. Not just something that announces the end, but as something that invites a new path. This exact theory is what feeds into my fantasies and lets me make up stories about the dead coming to life, through shadows.

(you have definitely seen this image in your dreams somewhere, don't lie!)

In English Class, we talked about “Postcards from the Trenches”, a marvelous documentation of how memorials are developed to account for the living, the dead, and believe it or not, the missing as well. Most tend to forget about missing people and just categorize them along with the dead, but this isn't true. The dead are those lives that were lost and killed in battle, whereas the missing are those whose bodies may be misplaced, such as an “absent body”. It's important that memorials are representative of all those that sacrificed their lives, and commemorated all equally. One rather interesting quip I noticed was that the choice to use tremorless but alive soldiers and guards rather than bronze statues was to carry on the legacy of life through death. Concepts that are thought of as mostly exclusive are seamlessly blended together with this creative idea. The guards represent the inaccessibility that the dead experience, and how they are not permanently gone from the world. They are still there “in spirit”. These guards must rotate between the phenomena of life and death. The three components of a memorial that make up are the presence, absence, and corpselessness that coexist to form unity. Another fact I found quite interesting was that the article preferred for memorials to be placed in crowded places. I found this rather strange, since it's pretty implied that if a memorial meant to be commemorated and respected was placed in such a busy junction, then it would be characterized as a “familiar object”. It would lose attention, and simply be blended in with the chaos. However, this article took a different approach that spun my mind. In short, it stated that memorials placed in busy cities actually contributed to the cause by giving the dead their own place. They essentially had their own role in the city, and were seen as a part of life once again. 

This article mostly emphasized the idea that absence and presence can both coexist despite being complete opposites. This crafted use of juxtaposition pulled me in as a reader, and made me want to delve deeper into the idea of death (I know, that sounds pretty weird). It prompted me to develop yet another theory (hear me out for a second). If living and death can both coexist (supposedly), then that must mean it happens to us everyday!  I theorize that the dead are living in our shadows at all times, similar to how the absent live vicariously in the present. Each one of us has a spirit in our shadows, and we are a reflection of them. The only problem is, we don't know which dead person we are a reflection of. This might just be a boring rant, but I thought I would express what I learned through English Class!

- Death Enthusiast,

Prisha!

(my theory about shadow reminded me of this book - childhood favorite!)