How Important is Death?

Death is something that is very obviously inevitable. Everyone alive knows that one day they will die so why is then that death is a subject so hard to talk about but so prevalent in writing? Death is the theme of both "The Mill", and "Richard Cory" by Edward Arlington Robinson. Robinson is not the only author to write about death, in fact it is a very common topic for authors to explore in their own way. Death is something that has always fascinated me as a topic in literature. Everything about death is unknown. I believe this is the reason so many authors write about it so extensively. authors are attempting to understand death on a deeper level through literature. No one knows when they are going to die, how, why, where we go, what happens when we die, everything about the experience is unknown yet we all live our lives everyday knowing that one day we will not be alive anymore. There are so many uncertainties that surround life and death, this sense of uncertainty is what makes "The Mill" so interesting to me. There are a few different interpretations of this poem that I have found in my research about it, one of which I relate to when reading it. "The Mill" was written in the 1920's during the Great Depression. The poem talks about the miller losing his job because during this era a lot of jobs were being dissolved into new jobs or dying out altogether as a trade when America was moving into the industrial revolution. Once it has been established that "There are no millers any more," (5) the wife was "Sick with a fear that had no form/ she knew that she was there at last; /And in the mill there was a warm /And mealy fragrance of the past" (9-12). The wife found her husband dead in the mill where he hung himself once he knew that he had no other options for his life. So many others around him that were losing their jobs were going without food and dying of starvation anyway, at least this way he would not have to suffer. The wife shortly after finding him had very negative thoughts herself. She began thinking about the idea of killing herself as well because she knew much like her husband did that her options were limited. Without work, a husband or anyone to take care of her, "She may have reasoned in the dark" (18). She went were the "Black water, smooth above the weir" (20) "Would hide her and would leave no mark" (19). The black water would soon be the end of her life, leaving in vain and not leaving a mark on her body the water "Though ruffled once, would soon appear /The same as ever to the sight" (22-23). This poem shows many different sides of both life and death. Life seemed to end as an option for the wife as soon as her husband had killed himself. Life for the husband ended as soon as he no longer had a job and could not provide for himself and his wife any longer. Both decided to end their lives but for very different reasons. The question of reliance and resilience come to mind when analyzing this poem. Could the husband have tried harder to find work? Was he weak for giving up too soon, or brave for knowing when to quit? Could the wife have tried to find a family to live with, or friends to take her in? All of these have to do with the human spirit. If the couple would have had greater purpose and reason to live maybe they would have tried to work a little harder, dig a little deeper and persevere a little longer to find solutions to their problems. This concept of grit, and its application to the human condition is what really shines through in this poem and in "Richard Cory." In the poem "Richard Cory" we are again looking at a man who kills himself to the surprise of the other characters in the poem and the reader of the poem. Richard Cory's death is built up to throughout the poem. His death is hinted at but never explicitly talked about, signs could be popping up that he is depressed or unhappy but it isn't until the end of the poem that it becomes clear the only option Richard Cory saw for himself, much like the miller and his wife was suicide. Richard Cory was a well liked man, "He was a gentleman from sole to crown,/Clean favored, and imperially slim" (3-4). Richard Cory was a man who had access to food, good clothing, and anything he needed. In a time of great want and need, he did not crave access to such common basic needs, he had everything he needed or wanted and more. He had everything and nothing. His happiness was an allusion that everyone wanted until they realized the smoke screen that was in front of them. "he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

And admirably schooled in every grace" (9-10). Richard Cory was richer than a king, he had more than anyone could ever imagine. What he had was also only his, it was not shared amongst others, it was not divided up and given to the less fortunate it was kept all to his unhappy self. Everyone that lived in the town wished that they were in his place. The grass always looks greener when you are looking at it from a less fortunate perspective. Richard Cory wanted what so many others had but it was something money could not buy, happiness. Everyone in the town thought that money could solve all of their problems, no more famine, no disease, no starvation or hunger, children going without every day, money could have solved all of their problems but for Richard Cory it was the biggest burden a man could have. "So on we worked, and waited for the light,/And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;/And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,/Went home and put a bullet through his head" (13-16). Both of our men (and wife) end up killing themselves in the end. Is death the only option for people when they feel like they can no longer handle the life they are living anymore? At what point does killing yourself become a real option that people consider and how can we analyze the obsession for money yet again in our culture. The miller killed himself because of a lack of money. Losing your job is a stressful thing, but is it something to die over? Richard Cory killed himself because he was so unhappy and money could not solve any of his problems. The American dream is something that should be considered when looking at these topics side by side. Is the American dream worth dying over, and does that make it a dream or a nightmare? Is the pursuit of happiness just another way of saying the pursuit of money, and not just enough to be sustainable, but enough to be glutenous with? Money is not a synonym for happiness and yet in both of these poems they are central to the understanding of why people choose to die. I do not know how many answers I have to these questions but here is a final food for thought if you have made it this far in my ramblings... was money created to give control to those who have the most it, or was money created to control those that have the most of it?