Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1975
Death: Tragedy and Triumph S. D E N T O N BASSETT
Introduction No man escapes death. Since it is an inevitable experience for every person, the question may be asked: How do people react t o death? This can best be learned by observing people who experience death's reality. A currently popular way t o s t udy this subject is to observe people in their dying experience. A n o t h e r way is to study reaction to death in tragic literature. I propose to use the latter m e t h o d of investigation. As the title m a y suggest, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the question: Is death t r i um pha nt , tragic, or possibly both? May death also be pathetic and defeating? I shall discuss the terms involved and ways in which death is viewed. Finally, I shall draw some conclusions based on the discussion. Working in a hospital tends to emphasize somatic concern. Consequently, when I use the term " d e a t h , " m y t e n d e n c y is to have physical death in mind. It should be said, however, that emotional and spiritual death are also involved. I shall try to give further recognition to this fact in the developm e n t o f the paper.
Description of terms F o r the purpose of shedding light on the conclusions in this paper, there are f o u r t e r m s th a t need clarification: tragedy, triumph, pathos, defeat. Tragedy. Tragedy is something t h a t people seek to avoid because of its unpleasantness. On the o t h e r hand, an unpleasant experience is n o t necessarily a bad experience. Therefore, in or de r to p u t tragedy in p r o p e r focus, I shall discuss it f r om three directions. Conflict in tragedy. Tragedy involves conflict within the tragic figure. The conflict may be viewed as the "conflict o f life," because the totality of the person is caught up in it. There m a y be a conflict of interests. The tragic figure may desire to be closely related t o two different people, yet realize that life and circumstances de m and that only one be chosen. Oedipus had at The Rev. S. Denton Bassett, Th.M., a certified chaplain of the College of Chaplains, American Protestant Hospital Association, has been Baptist Chaplain of the University of Texas Medical Branch Hospitals since 1965. He is currently chairman of the Council on Religious Ministry of the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. i00
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
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once a very strong c o m m i t m e n t to his parents and to the state. Yet circumstances demanded that he make a choice. Making the choice involved a dynamic conflict between his c o m m i t m e n t to his parents and to the state. Tragedy also involves a conflict of philosophies or values. The tragic person may find himself having to choose between " t h e g o o d " and "the better." One good value system may be in conflict with another equally good value system. In Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, the priest was in conflict over his need to preserve himself by avoiding capture and his c o m m i t m e n t to be a priest. The problem was that he could n o t do both. There is also the conflict of feelings. The feelings the preacher had for the "scarlet" in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter were in severe conflict. He loved the woman. At the same time, he loved himself. To identify himself as the father of the illegitimate child would threaten his image of himself as a minister. On the other hand, n o t identifying himself as the father threatened his love for " t h e scarlet." Struggle in tragedy. The pursuit of goals is involved in tragedy. I have chosen to discuss it as a struggle. Conflict has been used to denote what is happening in the pursuit of a goal. Struggle relates to the goal the person is trying to reach. One of these goals may be the struggle to be or to become. The tragic person may find himself in the struggle to achieve selfhood. Finding the answer to the question, "Who am I?" is the primary goal. In The Power and the Glory, the priest was unable to get away from the fact that he was a priest. He wanted to be himself and not face capture. Yet to be true to himself, he had to minister to the people in need, even though it m e a n t he would be captured. Closely related to the struggle to be is the struggle to achieve. Hubris, or the struggle with one's limitations, is the primary factor. In the a t t e m p t to achieve, the temptation is to go b e y o n d one's limits. The "old m a n " in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea dramatically struggled with this problem. He caught and subdued the great fish. Yet because of its size (it was too large for his boat), he was n o t able to display it as the greatest catch. He struggled for the highest achievement, but had to settle for a lesser one (the stripped carcass aimlessly tossed on the waves in the harbor). Another factor in the tragic struggle is the struggle to know. Ultimately it is a struggle to know oneself. Along the way it may be expressed as the struggle to know the right choice and the struggle to know how to implement that choice. It is much easier to feel secure about knowledge of oneself if another can affirm the same. The surveyor in Kafka's The Castle saw himself as the land surveyor, but he could find no authority who could affirm this image of him. He tried by every avenue available to reach the lord of the castle, who could affirm him as land surveyor. To know himself was the motivating force and paramount need in his life. Results of tragedy. Tragedy results in loss and grief. The loss may be death; the suffering may be grief. On the other hand, the loss may be the giving up
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of a value and the suffering may be in the form of a changed philosophy. Yet even this is a kind of death and grief. An important factor is the way the person handles his loss and suffering--how he reacts to it. In the end he either accepts it or rejects it. The tragic person accepts it. In fact, he accepts the tragic drama of life and views it as a challenge. Pathos contrasted with tragedy. The difference between tragedy and pathos needs to be clarified. The tragic person exhibits strength, while the pathetic person exhibits weakness. For example, the tragic figure may choose the position or make the decision t h a t demands the greatest effort, while the pathetic individual may choose the path of least resistance. The tragic person makes rational choices, but the pathetic person does as little thinking as possible. The tragic person is willing to stand alone, when this is required, but the pathetic person will avoid standing alone if at all possible. Involved in distinguishing between pathos and tragedy is the use of power. I talked earlier about the "struggle to be." Another way to phrase it is the "power of being." The power of being has meaning only in relationships. The tragic hero uses his power of being to edify or assert the personhood of others. The pathetic person uses his power of personhood selfishly and ultimately destructively. The tragic person uses his power of being to support the power of being in others. In the end, Captain Ahab in Moby Dick was a pathetic person when he ignored the plight of the distressed ship and forced himself and his crew to succumb to the raging sea in his pursuit of the great whale. On the other hand, Arthur Dimmesdale became the tragic hero when he affirmed himself as the father of the illegitimate child and the love of "the scarlet." His power of being affirmed their power of being. Triumph. The second definition of " t r i u m p h " in Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary is: "The joy or exultation of victory or success." There are certain implications here. In relation to tragedy, triumph implies the end of conflict and struggle. Another way to say it is, "There is rest." This implies that a battle has been waged, but now it is over. While tragedy implies conflict and struggle, there is at the same time the expectation that the battle will come to an end. Triumph implies that it has ended. Triumph also implies victory. The triumphant person has struggled through the conflict and is now victorious; the obstacle has been overcome; the problem has been solved. Satisfaction that the best of two or more choices has been made may also produce a feeling of triumph. The victorious person experiences a feeling of achievement, fulfillment, and satisfaction. It must be remembered, however, that in every battle even the triumphant person experiences loss. In The Old Man and the Sea, the old man won the battle with the fish, but he lost strength and drive to fish again. One gets the feeling that he was ready to die. On the other hand, the old man felt content in the knowledge that he had fought and won the battle against the great fish. Now he could die satisfied. Defeat contrasted with triumph. In defeat there is also the implication of
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
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having struggled with conflict, b u t c o n t r a r y to triumph, there is humiliation and isolation. The defeated person feels a greater sense of loss than the t r i u m p h a n t person even though b o t h may have suffered loss equally. The defeated person feels himself to be at the m ercy of the t r i u m p h a n t person. Defeat implies a sense of despair and hopelessness. The defeat ed person can see no way of recovery; the end has come. Struggle and conflict have taken on the p r o p o r t i o n s o f being an end in themselves. At the conclusion of this section, it can be stated t h a t tragedy and t ri um ph are related in nature; pathos and de f eat are also related in nature. In m y final section I shall relate these terms t o death.
Ways o f viewing death Generally there are two ways to view death: 1) as an end in itself; 2) as a means to an end. In this section, I propose to discuss these two views and to emphasize the Christian view of death. Death--an end in itself. To view death as an end in itself leaves a feeling of hopelessness. Yet historically people have viewed death this way; t hey continue to do so today. The t e n d e n c y in this view is to think of physical death, seeing death as a conclusion as opposed to a climax. F o r the person holding this view, death symbolizes u t t e r defeat. The general feeling then is hostility and fear. The reactions to these feelings m a y move in opposite directions. One is to move t ow ard death with an obsessive passion. An o t her is t o avoid it. The ultimate avoidance of death would be total isolation in a germ-free chamber. In Aldous Huxley's Brave N e w World, death was recognized as a natural p h e n o m e n o n , b u t it was avoided by relegating dying people to a special ward in the hospital and by conditioning the citizens of the brave new world to accept death as a natural p h e n o m e n o n t h a t was to be ignored. Brave N e w World illustrates anot her facet of the view t hat death is an end in itself: th at death is the inevitable consequence of action. A n o t h e r way to say it is: " De a t h is the inevitable result of living." This is a true fact, but when the statement ends at t hat poi nt it is fatalistic, and death finds meaning only in iteslf. Death--a means to an end. A m or e meaningful view of death is to see it as a means to an end, an experience of life, which gives it meaning in a way t h a t transcends itself. In this concept, death is n o t com pl et e within itself. Death always implies loss. When it is viewed as a means t o an end, the resultant trauma does not reach the same proport i ons t hat it otherwise does. This in turn makes the trauma of death m ore tolerable. When seen as a means to an end, death m ay be viewed as a way of preserving one's dignity and honor. In this light, death finds meaning and permits the dying person to succumb triumphantly. There is victory in death. In this sense, Oedipus, who f o u n d his conflict in the d e m a n d t h a t he
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choose between the state and his parents, chose the state. In the Greek's mind, this choice was the highest good. Yet when he discovered that he had killed his father and married his mother, he was defamed, for parents were also to be honored and revered. Because of his position in the state, it, too, was defamed. His honor and the dignity of the state were restored by his yielding to death. Biblical concept o f death. In the Bible, physical death is almost lost in the concept of spiritual death. Physical death is generally accepted as a natural phenomenon. In the Revelation it is so presented, but it is also talked about as the last enemy to be overcome. The most enlightening statement on physical death in the Bible is Jesus' discussion of the importance of grain being planted in the earth and dying. In the death of the seed grain, more grain is produced; consequently, death becomes a means to an end. When the Bible speaks of spiritual and emotional death, the emphasis is on death as a means to an end. The Christian life is presented in terms of rebirth. Repentance, a part of man's activity in following Christ, literally means giving up one way of life or one set of standards for the Christian way or Christlike standards. The implication in the Bible is that death involves loss that is overshadowed by what is gained. Not only is death a means to an end, but the end is greater than the former state. The former state is an existence in sin. The latter state is an existence in righteousness.
Conclusions On the basis of the preceding discussion, one may say that death can be experienced in either of two ways: as tragic and triumphant, or as pathetic and defeating. Death--tragic and triumphant. When death is experienced as a means to an end, all the experiences of tragedy and triumph may be focused on that experience. Conflict and struggle are dynamic and loss is inevitable. At the same time, victory is evident and c o n t e n t m e n t and fulfillment are felt. Realistically this is not the only reaction to death. Kiibler-Ross and others have ably documented other reactions. When Dr. Kilbler-Ross talks about "acceptance" as the ultimate reaction, this is basically her meaning. The Old Man and the Sea is an excellent illustration of this kind of experience of death. All of the conflict, struggle, and loss of tragedy is dynamically present in the experience of the old man. Also, one gets the feeling of triumph in reading about his resting in his cabin after his return to shore with evidence of his victory over the fish. The keenest sense of triumph comes when Hemingway talks about the old man's zeal having been passed to the young boy. The old man faces death knowing that the boy is taking the torch. The determination and ability of the old man are now in the boy--he has procreated himself through the boy. Death--pathetic and defeating. When death is experienced as an end in itself,
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
105
it is pathetic and defeating. Self-defeating and self-destructive choices have been made. The person who faces death with this attitude is motivated by a sense of despair. His reactions stop short of acceptance. Pathos lies in the fact that the reaction of acceptance is available to the person who achieves it as well as to the person who does not. The pathetic person stops short of acceptance and accepts defeat. Death as the end in itself becomes an obsession. One of the illustrations of this kind of death experience in tragic literature is Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. I have referred to his self-destructive nature before. His obsession was to catch the great whale. Ahab had m a n y good qualities. Yet all along there was a certain mysterious uncertainty about his character that came to light when the trail of the great whale was discovered. Having been a whaling captain for years, he knew the dangers that lurked in the sea. Also, he knew the c o m m o n courtesies of the sea. But he ignored them and compulsively pursued the whale. In actuality, he pursued death. Death, an end in itself, ended in defeat. One gets the feeling t h a t Ahab was basically motivated to pursue death for death's sake, though he verbalized his goal as catching the whale. His experience of death was pathetic and defeating because it was unnecessary. The better experience. There is no d o u b t that of the two experiences of death presented, the tragic and triumphant experience is desirable. In tragic literature, it is difficult to find a purely pathetic figure. Indeed, the pathetic figure is despised, for he reminds us of our own pathetic quality. In Christian theology, provision is made for preparing to experience death as tragic and triumphant. Jesus said: " . . . a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest" (John 12:24). The challenge is to face dying with dignity, having faced all the trauma of tragedy and having experienced the exuberance of triumph.
Death: Tragedy and Triumph S. D E N T O N BASSETT
Introduction No man escapes death. Since it is an inevitable experience for every person, the question may be asked: How do people react t o death? This can best be learned by observing people who experience death's reality. A currently popular way t o s t udy this subject is to observe people in their dying experience. A n o t h e r way is to study reaction to death in tragic literature. I propose to use the latter m e t h o d of investigation. As the title m a y suggest, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the question: Is death t r i um pha nt , tragic, or possibly both? May death also be pathetic and defeating? I shall discuss the terms involved and ways in which death is viewed. Finally, I shall draw some conclusions based on the discussion. Working in a hospital tends to emphasize somatic concern. Consequently, when I use the term " d e a t h , " m y t e n d e n c y is to have physical death in mind. It should be said, however, that emotional and spiritual death are also involved. I shall try to give further recognition to this fact in the developm e n t o f the paper.
Description of terms F o r the purpose of shedding light on the conclusions in this paper, there are f o u r t e r m s th a t need clarification: tragedy, triumph, pathos, defeat. Tragedy. Tragedy is something t h a t people seek to avoid because of its unpleasantness. On the o t h e r hand, an unpleasant experience is n o t necessarily a bad experience. Therefore, in or de r to p u t tragedy in p r o p e r focus, I shall discuss it f r om three directions. Conflict in tragedy. Tragedy involves conflict within the tragic figure. The conflict may be viewed as the "conflict o f life," because the totality of the person is caught up in it. There m a y be a conflict of interests. The tragic figure may desire to be closely related t o two different people, yet realize that life and circumstances de m and that only one be chosen. Oedipus had at The Rev. S. Denton Bassett, Th.M., a certified chaplain of the College of Chaplains, American Protestant Hospital Association, has been Baptist Chaplain of the University of Texas Medical Branch Hospitals since 1965. He is currently chairman of the Council on Religious Ministry of the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. i00
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
101
once a very strong c o m m i t m e n t to his parents and to the state. Yet circumstances demanded that he make a choice. Making the choice involved a dynamic conflict between his c o m m i t m e n t to his parents and to the state. Tragedy also involves a conflict of philosophies or values. The tragic person may find himself having to choose between " t h e g o o d " and "the better." One good value system may be in conflict with another equally good value system. In Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, the priest was in conflict over his need to preserve himself by avoiding capture and his c o m m i t m e n t to be a priest. The problem was that he could n o t do both. There is also the conflict of feelings. The feelings the preacher had for the "scarlet" in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter were in severe conflict. He loved the woman. At the same time, he loved himself. To identify himself as the father of the illegitimate child would threaten his image of himself as a minister. On the other hand, n o t identifying himself as the father threatened his love for " t h e scarlet." Struggle in tragedy. The pursuit of goals is involved in tragedy. I have chosen to discuss it as a struggle. Conflict has been used to denote what is happening in the pursuit of a goal. Struggle relates to the goal the person is trying to reach. One of these goals may be the struggle to be or to become. The tragic person may find himself in the struggle to achieve selfhood. Finding the answer to the question, "Who am I?" is the primary goal. In The Power and the Glory, the priest was unable to get away from the fact that he was a priest. He wanted to be himself and not face capture. Yet to be true to himself, he had to minister to the people in need, even though it m e a n t he would be captured. Closely related to the struggle to be is the struggle to achieve. Hubris, or the struggle with one's limitations, is the primary factor. In the a t t e m p t to achieve, the temptation is to go b e y o n d one's limits. The "old m a n " in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea dramatically struggled with this problem. He caught and subdued the great fish. Yet because of its size (it was too large for his boat), he was n o t able to display it as the greatest catch. He struggled for the highest achievement, but had to settle for a lesser one (the stripped carcass aimlessly tossed on the waves in the harbor). Another factor in the tragic struggle is the struggle to know. Ultimately it is a struggle to know oneself. Along the way it may be expressed as the struggle to know the right choice and the struggle to know how to implement that choice. It is much easier to feel secure about knowledge of oneself if another can affirm the same. The surveyor in Kafka's The Castle saw himself as the land surveyor, but he could find no authority who could affirm this image of him. He tried by every avenue available to reach the lord of the castle, who could affirm him as land surveyor. To know himself was the motivating force and paramount need in his life. Results of tragedy. Tragedy results in loss and grief. The loss may be death; the suffering may be grief. On the other hand, the loss may be the giving up
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Journal of Religion and Health
of a value and the suffering may be in the form of a changed philosophy. Yet even this is a kind of death and grief. An important factor is the way the person handles his loss and suffering--how he reacts to it. In the end he either accepts it or rejects it. The tragic person accepts it. In fact, he accepts the tragic drama of life and views it as a challenge. Pathos contrasted with tragedy. The difference between tragedy and pathos needs to be clarified. The tragic person exhibits strength, while the pathetic person exhibits weakness. For example, the tragic figure may choose the position or make the decision t h a t demands the greatest effort, while the pathetic individual may choose the path of least resistance. The tragic person makes rational choices, but the pathetic person does as little thinking as possible. The tragic person is willing to stand alone, when this is required, but the pathetic person will avoid standing alone if at all possible. Involved in distinguishing between pathos and tragedy is the use of power. I talked earlier about the "struggle to be." Another way to phrase it is the "power of being." The power of being has meaning only in relationships. The tragic hero uses his power of being to edify or assert the personhood of others. The pathetic person uses his power of personhood selfishly and ultimately destructively. The tragic person uses his power of being to support the power of being in others. In the end, Captain Ahab in Moby Dick was a pathetic person when he ignored the plight of the distressed ship and forced himself and his crew to succumb to the raging sea in his pursuit of the great whale. On the other hand, Arthur Dimmesdale became the tragic hero when he affirmed himself as the father of the illegitimate child and the love of "the scarlet." His power of being affirmed their power of being. Triumph. The second definition of " t r i u m p h " in Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary is: "The joy or exultation of victory or success." There are certain implications here. In relation to tragedy, triumph implies the end of conflict and struggle. Another way to say it is, "There is rest." This implies that a battle has been waged, but now it is over. While tragedy implies conflict and struggle, there is at the same time the expectation that the battle will come to an end. Triumph implies that it has ended. Triumph also implies victory. The triumphant person has struggled through the conflict and is now victorious; the obstacle has been overcome; the problem has been solved. Satisfaction that the best of two or more choices has been made may also produce a feeling of triumph. The victorious person experiences a feeling of achievement, fulfillment, and satisfaction. It must be remembered, however, that in every battle even the triumphant person experiences loss. In The Old Man and the Sea, the old man won the battle with the fish, but he lost strength and drive to fish again. One gets the feeling that he was ready to die. On the other hand, the old man felt content in the knowledge that he had fought and won the battle against the great fish. Now he could die satisfied. Defeat contrasted with triumph. In defeat there is also the implication of
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
103
having struggled with conflict, b u t c o n t r a r y to triumph, there is humiliation and isolation. The defeated person feels a greater sense of loss than the t r i u m p h a n t person even though b o t h may have suffered loss equally. The defeated person feels himself to be at the m ercy of the t r i u m p h a n t person. Defeat implies a sense of despair and hopelessness. The defeat ed person can see no way of recovery; the end has come. Struggle and conflict have taken on the p r o p o r t i o n s o f being an end in themselves. At the conclusion of this section, it can be stated t h a t tragedy and t ri um ph are related in nature; pathos and de f eat are also related in nature. In m y final section I shall relate these terms t o death.
Ways o f viewing death Generally there are two ways to view death: 1) as an end in itself; 2) as a means to an end. In this section, I propose to discuss these two views and to emphasize the Christian view of death. Death--an end in itself. To view death as an end in itself leaves a feeling of hopelessness. Yet historically people have viewed death this way; t hey continue to do so today. The t e n d e n c y in this view is to think of physical death, seeing death as a conclusion as opposed to a climax. F o r the person holding this view, death symbolizes u t t e r defeat. The general feeling then is hostility and fear. The reactions to these feelings m a y move in opposite directions. One is to move t ow ard death with an obsessive passion. An o t her is t o avoid it. The ultimate avoidance of death would be total isolation in a germ-free chamber. In Aldous Huxley's Brave N e w World, death was recognized as a natural p h e n o m e n o n , b u t it was avoided by relegating dying people to a special ward in the hospital and by conditioning the citizens of the brave new world to accept death as a natural p h e n o m e n o n t h a t was to be ignored. Brave N e w World illustrates anot her facet of the view t hat death is an end in itself: th at death is the inevitable consequence of action. A n o t h e r way to say it is: " De a t h is the inevitable result of living." This is a true fact, but when the statement ends at t hat poi nt it is fatalistic, and death finds meaning only in iteslf. Death--a means to an end. A m or e meaningful view of death is to see it as a means to an end, an experience of life, which gives it meaning in a way t h a t transcends itself. In this concept, death is n o t com pl et e within itself. Death always implies loss. When it is viewed as a means t o an end, the resultant trauma does not reach the same proport i ons t hat it otherwise does. This in turn makes the trauma of death m ore tolerable. When seen as a means to an end, death m ay be viewed as a way of preserving one's dignity and honor. In this light, death finds meaning and permits the dying person to succumb triumphantly. There is victory in death. In this sense, Oedipus, who f o u n d his conflict in the d e m a n d t h a t he
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Journal of Religion and Health
choose between the state and his parents, chose the state. In the Greek's mind, this choice was the highest good. Yet when he discovered that he had killed his father and married his mother, he was defamed, for parents were also to be honored and revered. Because of his position in the state, it, too, was defamed. His honor and the dignity of the state were restored by his yielding to death. Biblical concept o f death. In the Bible, physical death is almost lost in the concept of spiritual death. Physical death is generally accepted as a natural phenomenon. In the Revelation it is so presented, but it is also talked about as the last enemy to be overcome. The most enlightening statement on physical death in the Bible is Jesus' discussion of the importance of grain being planted in the earth and dying. In the death of the seed grain, more grain is produced; consequently, death becomes a means to an end. When the Bible speaks of spiritual and emotional death, the emphasis is on death as a means to an end. The Christian life is presented in terms of rebirth. Repentance, a part of man's activity in following Christ, literally means giving up one way of life or one set of standards for the Christian way or Christlike standards. The implication in the Bible is that death involves loss that is overshadowed by what is gained. Not only is death a means to an end, but the end is greater than the former state. The former state is an existence in sin. The latter state is an existence in righteousness.
Conclusions On the basis of the preceding discussion, one may say that death can be experienced in either of two ways: as tragic and triumphant, or as pathetic and defeating. Death--tragic and triumphant. When death is experienced as a means to an end, all the experiences of tragedy and triumph may be focused on that experience. Conflict and struggle are dynamic and loss is inevitable. At the same time, victory is evident and c o n t e n t m e n t and fulfillment are felt. Realistically this is not the only reaction to death. Kiibler-Ross and others have ably documented other reactions. When Dr. Kilbler-Ross talks about "acceptance" as the ultimate reaction, this is basically her meaning. The Old Man and the Sea is an excellent illustration of this kind of experience of death. All of the conflict, struggle, and loss of tragedy is dynamically present in the experience of the old man. Also, one gets the feeling of triumph in reading about his resting in his cabin after his return to shore with evidence of his victory over the fish. The keenest sense of triumph comes when Hemingway talks about the old man's zeal having been passed to the young boy. The old man faces death knowing that the boy is taking the torch. The determination and ability of the old man are now in the boy--he has procreated himself through the boy. Death--pathetic and defeating. When death is experienced as an end in itself,
Death: Tragedy and Triumph
105
it is pathetic and defeating. Self-defeating and self-destructive choices have been made. The person who faces death with this attitude is motivated by a sense of despair. His reactions stop short of acceptance. Pathos lies in the fact that the reaction of acceptance is available to the person who achieves it as well as to the person who does not. The pathetic person stops short of acceptance and accepts defeat. Death as the end in itself becomes an obsession. One of the illustrations of this kind of death experience in tragic literature is Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. I have referred to his self-destructive nature before. His obsession was to catch the great whale. Ahab had m a n y good qualities. Yet all along there was a certain mysterious uncertainty about his character that came to light when the trail of the great whale was discovered. Having been a whaling captain for years, he knew the dangers that lurked in the sea. Also, he knew the c o m m o n courtesies of the sea. But he ignored them and compulsively pursued the whale. In actuality, he pursued death. Death, an end in itself, ended in defeat. One gets the feeling t h a t Ahab was basically motivated to pursue death for death's sake, though he verbalized his goal as catching the whale. His experience of death was pathetic and defeating because it was unnecessary. The better experience. There is no d o u b t that of the two experiences of death presented, the tragic and triumphant experience is desirable. In tragic literature, it is difficult to find a purely pathetic figure. Indeed, the pathetic figure is despised, for he reminds us of our own pathetic quality. In Christian theology, provision is made for preparing to experience death as tragic and triumphant. Jesus said: " . . . a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest" (John 12:24). The challenge is to face dying with dignity, having faced all the trauma of tragedy and having experienced the exuberance of triumph.
