Afterlife

The people of ancient Greece contracted burial under the earth and continued the tradition of the after-life existing underground. Ancient Greeks had beliefs in an afterlife and were fascinated with the human soul's roles, actions, and location after death. For the ancient Greeks, the funeral ritual was an essential key to the afterlife and contributed to help the individual on its way. The ancient Greeks made sure to provide their dead with carefully carved stones to remind the living of who…

greater. After the fight, and surrendering is inevitable- the night will still be good, and there may be an afterlife. The most essential metaphor to the claim that there is light after death is the paradox between night and day. With each passing sunset fading away the dim light, each day the sun will still rise. The sunset metaphor symbolizes a radiation of hope, even a potential glimpse of afterlife. After the night comes and death triumphs the last breath, the sun will rise in the morning…

Death and the afterlife has long been a debate in history and philosophy. In his book “What does it all mean?”, Nagel focused a chapter on discussing whether the afterlife might or might not exist. Famous philosopher Socrates also explained his belief in the afterlife in Plato’s “Phaedo”. While sharing some of the ideas, the two thinkers have different arguments and stances on the issue. This paper aims to compare the two philosopher’s argument, and provide an argument towards the question of…

In “A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me”, Derrick Brown takes the position of a weak man who is elderly and is going to face death. He speaks the thoughts aloud of the old man by demonstrating his memorable times, his freedom in his afterlife, and the positivity towards death. Throughout this poem he is speaking to the person who he promised to love for eternity. He says he will love her until he is extremely old, when she needs to feed and bathe him “when it is rather necessary”. He reveals that when…

Death as a “kindly” behaved gentleman that gives a “leisure” ride in “the carriage held but just ourselves.” This makes it seem as if Dickinson had a sort of loving admiration towards Death. The poem gives an insight into the way Emily visualized afterlife as we see that the speaker is dead and they are a sort of spirit reflecting upon the day of passing. Dickinson also repeats the phrase “We passed” as inferring in a way that this was all a routine of her usual life as they go through the…

Ancient Egyptians believed that the afterlife was wonderful and that when a person died they took all their possessions with them to the afterlife. Egyptians had the idea that if someone had done something horrible on earth that they would be punished for their crimes, instead of going to the afterlife. People living in Mesopotamia believed that there was only “The House of Dust.” The House of Dust was the opposite of the afterlife, it was a cruel and violent place. There was no “heaven”…

sense of warmth, reflection, and gratitude. Emily Dickinson chooses the later when she wrote the story that would later be titled “Because I could not stop for Death”, a story that depicts the journey that Death takes the speaker on towards the afterlife and immortality. From the very first line of the poem, readers understand that the poem is about death. The speaker notes how though she could not stop for Death, “He kindly stopped for me” (2). Death is not generally characterized as kind,…

nothing to be looked down upon, but to be appreciative of. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, the speaker utilizes personification, capitalization, and punctuation to illuminate the meaning of her passing to the eternal afterlife. In the poem, Death isn’t frightening or an intimidating reaper looking to take the souls of people. It is rather a gentle guide helping to assist the speaker in leading her towards eternity. Death exemplifies civility in taking time…

beliefs they were taught. Society has begun to reflect on these new ideas through everything that they do. After reading Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, people will have a different outlook on afterlife, and begin to express these new beliefs through architecture and art. Many of society’s views of afterlife have changed after Inferno’s publication. Based on Inferno, some people began to change their opinion on who, or what, is actually in charge of Hell. People began to think, instead of the…

works. Included in these works are the poems “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I felt a Funeral in my Brain”. These two poems encompass Emily’s thoughts towards death and the afterlife. Through the use of alliteration, imagery, and tone, Emily Dickinson presents different attitudes towards death and the afterlife. In the poem “Because I could not stop for Death”, the speaker describes their experience while riding in a carriage with Death. The speaker notices their surroundings as the…