Comparsion Of The Themes Of Grief In The Here And Now

“People tend to have strong resistance to the idea of their own death, and strong emotional reactions of loss to the death of loved ones” (Lumen Learning). The theme of grief is heavily addressed in both Hamlet and The Here and Now along with the theme of religion's influence on choices, actions, and society. The themes in these books make for a great plot with numerous deaths and restrictions on their decisions. The way that these two pieces are written, overlaps some of the same ideas. Although they are completely different stories, the characters experience the same feelings of grief and are restricted by a certain set of rules creating a connection between them.

The theme of grief is present in both Hamlet and The Here and Now. In both

In Hamlet, Hamlet himself loses his own father in a very unfortunate circumstance, a murder by Hamlet’s own uncle Claudius. He marries Hamlet’s mother making the grieving process a lot harder for Hamlet. He feels alone and the loss makes him go crazy. During a confrontation with his mother, he describes his grief to her after she makes it seem like he shouldn’t still be upset over his father’s death, "Seem,” mother? No, it is. I don’t know what you mean by “seem.” Neither my black clothes, my dear mother, nor my heavy sighs, nor my weeping, nor my downcast eyes, nor any other display of grief can show what I really feel. It’s true that all these things “seem” like grief, since a person could use them to fake grief if he wanted to. But I’ve got more real grief inside me that you could ever see on the surface. These clothes are just a hint of it” (1.2.76-86). At this moment, you can see how heavily the death of his father has hit him. He is showcasing his grief on the outside through his clothes, appearance, and actions, but he explains that the real grief is on the inside where his mother

It restricts Hamlet and Prenna’s decisions and affects the way they carry out their actions. In Hamlet, it is said that Hamlet and his family are Christian. They are very religious and believe that once you have confessed all your sins, you will go to heaven. This heavily affects a decision he makes. There is a moment in the play where Hamlet is debating killing Claudius while he’s in the middle of a confession, “I could do it easily now. He’s praying now. And now I’ll do it. (he draws out his sword) And there he goes, off to heaven. And that’s my revenge. I’d better think about this more carefully. A villain kills my father, and I, my father’s only son, send this same villain to heaven. Seems like I just did him a favor. He killed my father when my father was enjoying life, with all his sins in full bloom, before my father could repent for any of them. Only God knows how many sins my father has to pay for. As for me, I don’t think his prospects look so good” (3.3.74-85). Even though it was the perfect moment, Hamlet decides not to kill Claudius. He wants to wait til Claudius is committing a sin so that he does not go to heaven. This shows that Hamlet’s religion made him rethink and influenced the decision he made. In The Here and Now, Prenna is heavily restricted by a set of rules as well. Prenna lives in a society where her people are afraid that the