Every human being faces two certainties in life, one is birth and the other is death. While birth is a joyful occasion that is celebrated and announced to everyone, death is often hidden in North American society. In the Slender Margin by Eve Joseph attempts to use an interdisciplinary approach in order to explore death and the differing perspectives towards it. She uses historical accounts, religious beliefs, personal memories, and literature in order to present the reader with various observations of death and how human beings interact with it. Joseph begins the book by focusing on her personal loss of her brother when she was eleven. Later on she develops this memory further to look at the grief surrounding this time along with the factors
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She uses a variety of themes in order to understand this fear and how it influences our perception of death. One theme that the book mentions is the idea of a “good death”. One meaning of a good death that is mentioned within the book is a medical anthropological definition in which “there is an awareness, acceptance and preparation and a peaceful dignified dying” (Joseph, 2014, p. 40). This idea of a good death is when the patient comes to a state of understanding in regards to their death. This state allows the patient to confront and accept their fears about death. The book additionally notes that in the Middle Ages a good death focused on preparing the soul for its future in heaven and celebrating the life that has been lived (Joseph, 2014, p. 41). While the definitions vary, it is clear that the goal of a good death is one that is peaceful with some acceptance. The book addresses an understanding that the fear of death is more likely the fear of having a bad death. This would be a death where the patient suffers and is unable to accept their death. Yet by focusing on and achieving a good death, the fear of death seems to be …show more content…
In the beginning of her book, Joseph remembered that her mother had many hopes for her deceased brother. Yet after her brother’s death she remembered, that her mother only hoped that her brother had died quickly (Joseph, 2014, p. 10). Joseph talks about how her mother was very concerned that her son had suffered a long, painful death. Yet a sense of relief was given when it was revealed that Joseph’s brother had died instantly. The book concludes that in North American culture, the fear of having a long, painful death results one reason that death is feared. The book also mentions that this is the goal of palliative care with “the focus on relieving suffering” (Joseph, 2014, p. 190). Although it is not possible to completely alleviate all suffering, there is still an unrealistic goal to prevent and avoid any suffering. The fear of pain and suffering has added to the fear of death and resulted in the focus of hospice care to be to relieve
She uses a variety of themes in order to understand this fear and how it influences our perception of death. One theme that the book mentions is the idea of a “good death”. One meaning of a good death that is mentioned within the book is a medical anthropological definition in which “there is an awareness, acceptance and preparation and a peaceful dignified dying” (Joseph, 2014, p. 40). This idea of a good death is when the patient comes to a state of understanding in regards to their death. This state allows the patient to confront and accept their fears about death. The book additionally notes that in the Middle Ages a good death focused on preparing the soul for its future in heaven and celebrating the life that has been lived (Joseph, 2014, p. 41). While the definitions vary, it is clear that the goal of a good death is one that is peaceful with some acceptance. The book addresses an understanding that the fear of death is more likely the fear of having a bad death. This would be a death where the patient suffers and is unable to accept their death. Yet by focusing on and achieving a good death, the fear of death seems to be …show more content…
In the beginning of her book, Joseph remembered that her mother had many hopes for her deceased brother. Yet after her brother’s death she remembered, that her mother only hoped that her brother had died quickly (Joseph, 2014, p. 10). Joseph talks about how her mother was very concerned that her son had suffered a long, painful death. Yet a sense of relief was given when it was revealed that Joseph’s brother had died instantly. The book concludes that in North American culture, the fear of having a long, painful death results one reason that death is feared. The book also mentions that this is the goal of palliative care with “the focus on relieving suffering” (Joseph, 2014, p. 190). Although it is not possible to completely alleviate all suffering, there is still an unrealistic goal to prevent and avoid any suffering. The fear of pain and suffering has added to the fear of death and resulted in the focus of hospice care to be to relieve