The Five Stages of Grief Have you ever gone through the agonizing experience of grief caused by a significant life event? Grief is a challenging topic that many people tend to avoid discussing due to its sensitivity. Facing the reality of death can be emotionally overwhelming or uncomfortable for many individuals. In the book We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, the protagonist, Cadence, suffers from a head injury that causes severe amnesia. As she recovers, Cadence becomes aware of the past traumatic events that happened with her family on the island, which ultimately leads her through the five stages of grief. Cadence's journey represents the common experiences that many people encounter while grieving in real life. In this essay, we will explore the …show more content…
The very first stage of grief is denial in which an individual remains in shock while refusing to accept the facts of the loss. Throughout the story of We were liars denial shows among the character Cady as she remains in a euphoric state not accepting her losses. In the book, Cady says “The island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever” (Lockhart, 2014). This quote shows that Cady does not want to let go of her cousins, she wants to believe they can be young on the island forever. She does not realize that her cousins have passed and thinks they can keep going with their lives. In this article, the author writes “Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial” and “Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief ”(Kübler & Kessler, 2023). Both of these quotes help explain why Cady can not accept or come to realize that her family has passed. She was in a state of shock and did not know what to do. This was helping her to start the grieving process. Additionally, the second step of the process is anger a strong feeling of hostility or displeasure. Individuals grieving consistently display anger during this