Analysis Of Beyond The Five Stages Of Grief In Rabbit Hole

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How does one deal with grief and death? Every human that has lost someone close to them grieves their loss. While everyone grieves, the grieving process is different for every individual. Whether the grief is from the loss of a child, spouse, parent, grandparent or even a friend, life will never be the same without them. Grieving comes in five stages as noted by the article, Beyond the Five Stages of Grief, but the five stages vary for each individual. In Rabbit Hole, Becca and Howie grieve over the recent loss of their son and Nat is able to relate as she too lost her son. David Lindsay-Abaire uses the loss of loved ones in Rabbit Hole to elaborate on grief and the grieving process. Becca lost her son Danny, who was four year olds. Danny was ran over by a car after he ran into the middle of the street chasing after his dog. Becca is feeling remorse and guilt over the loss of Danny. At the start of the play, Becca starts in the angry stage of grief, one of the first stages of grief. Becca looks around her house and everywhere …show more content…

Howie grieves over Danny with contrasting ways in comparison to Becca. Howie likes to be reminded of Danny and enjoys remembering his son through the little things that lay around the house. “It’s Taz, and the paintings, and the clothes, and it’s everything! You have to stop erasing him!” (34). He is in a varying stage of his grief compared to where Becca is at. Howie is in the “‘restoration-oriented coping [stage],’ [which] focuses on managing practical issues that arise, such as loneliness or challenging new circumstances.” Because he is in this stage, Howie wants to remember Danny in good ways and not just shove him aside like it never even happened. He enjoys the apparition of Danny and the aura that the house gives him. This clash of grieving stages causes fighting between Becca and Howie when they should be there for each other so they could have helped each other out with their