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Gilead And When Breath Becomes Air: A Comparative Analysis

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Morgan Drake 12\4\17 AP LangWhat Matters MostA craving for immortality has distinguished mankind for thousands of years and has been echoed in the myths of multitudes of cultures. From Herodotus’s Water of the Macrobians to Ponce De León’s Fountain of Youth, the insatiable want for eternal life is observed. Echoing Kalanithi, ‘everyone succumbs to finitude.’ (Kalanithi, pg. 198) Despite our desires, death is a permanent element of life and must be dealt with. Seeing how common death is an honest analysis of it will help relinquish life when it is time. Two evaluations of imminent death are seen in the texts of Gilead and When Breath Becomes Air withthe theme of impending decease and how it should be dealt with as a common premise in …show more content…

However in Gilead, the tone is subjective, petitioning mainly emotions and occasionally ethics. Still, many parallels can be drawn between Kalanithi and Ames, though one is fictional and one’s experience of death is real, both share similarities in their reflections. In the face of imminent death , the two narrators , are consensus with Kalanithi’s declaration of ‘even if I’m dying, until I actually die, I’m living.’ (Kalanithi, pg. 150) which echoes Epicurus’s own quote 'Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not.’ They have attained the ability of looking at certain demise and maintain their composure over death. In this way, Gilead and When Breath Becomes Air are two noteworthy supports in the attempt to expand the contemporary considerations about death. How to die is a question that has persisted for millennia, and though the issue remains identical, the answer has changed. In medieval times, death was accepted stoically with the knowledge it was inevitable. The old Viking adage of ‘live well, die well’ was followed religiously. Yet in modern times, with the advent of medical progress, the process of death has changed, and by allowing the dying to linger longer on various forms of life support, technological advancement has given Western culture a form of denial, an uninformed assurance that death can now be transcended for an indefinite period. This is a dangerous turn, when we accept that breathing is the same as living. Instead, those close to death should be allowed maximum

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