Life is joyful for the most part, it can be devastating, but it will always be. Until death. We often hear about the circle of life, but is life a circle? A circle never ends but the life of one individual person does. Death is something we know nothing about, but one thing everyone knows of. It can be scary, especially for children who does not completely understand the concept of life either. It is an issue parents have to deal with and it is difficult because of one simple question: how do you explain that death is natural and nothing to be scared of to someone who has just begun living? This theme is dealt with in the short story written by Colm Tóibín called “A Journey” from the short story-collection “Mothers and Sons”.
The short story begins in medias res in a flashbacks, wherein Mary’s young son has just discovered that life is perishable. “”Mammy, how do people die?” he asked, and Mary had explained how the soul left the body and then God… well God… took your soul because he loves you. “Will everyone die?” “Yes. David””(ll.1-4) Mary hesitates when she mentions God indicating her own doubt in God’s excistence and she therefore gives a half-hearted explanation to this extremely difficult question. She does not believe in this herself but gives a standard answer without engaging herself in the question. But she hesitates and the boy starts to wonder if this is what really happens. When Mary answers David’s last question in the quote she is very blunt and forward. There is no empathy for David’s fears, and this could be because of Mary’s age. She would have processed her own fear of death a long time ago and cannot sympathize with David because of this fact. This problem seems to be the seed to David’s growing depression through the memories.
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