We do not like, as a society, talking about death

“We do not like, as a society, talking about death” – Mark Mardell

So it’s been quite a big week for obituaries, with first David Bowie dying, followed by the sad news that everyone’s favourite screen villain, Alan Rickman, passed away today.

However, it was Bowie’s demise that sparked an outpouring a grief and tributes rarely seen in the UK….and this is where the written word becomes so important.

“Deaths are a punctuation mark – some at the end of a sentence, other a paragraph, still others a chapter” 

Mark Mardell’s excellent article on the BBC website – ‘Bowie death underlines the power of the obituary’ – touched upon a number of reasons why we prefer to write about death than talk about it.

Bowie was not especially old, but he did help to define a generation and that, in turn, raises questions as to one’s own mortality.

“It is not about him, it is about us”

The parallel used with Bowie was the outpouring of grief for Princess Diana.

In particular, how she echoed the lives of young girls at the time – young, beautiful, married a prince, suffered broken dreams, tried to rebuild herself….etc.

“Their deaths allows us to negotiate with the past”

Our relationship with politicians tends to be less rose-tinted, especially with the recent passing of such contentious figures as Baroness Thatcher.

However, they define an age, and in some cases – such as Thatcherism – spawn their own language.

Hence, their obituaries allow us to look back at their achievements with greater clarity and detachment.

Strange isn’t it, that the need to write well is often more profoundly felt in death, than it is in life?

“Obituaries can show us how little has changed as well as how much”

Related posts

http://www.nobleword.co.uk/obituaries-where-satire-meets-sarcasm/

http://www.nobleword.co.uk/obituaries-give-life-death/