Death Be Not Proud Study Guide
Key Facts
FULL TITLE · Death Be Not Proud
AUTHOR · John Gunther
TYPE OF WORK · Non-fiction memoir
GENRE · Illness narrative; epistolary narrative
LANGUAGE · English
TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · Late 1940s, the United States
DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION · 1949
PUBLISHER · Harper & Row
NARRATOR · Gunther (in main narrative); Johnny (in letters and diary); Frances
CLIMAX · Johnny's doctor's cannot extract any fluid from his stone-sized tumor.
PROTAGONIST · Johnny
SETTING (TIME) · 1945-47
SETTING (PLACE) · New York; Connecticut; Massachusetts
POINT OF VIEW · Gunther's; Johnny's (through his diary and letters); Frances's
FALLING ACTION · Johnny's death and funeral
TENSE · Immediate past tense
FORESHADOWING · Gunther reveals on the first page that Johnny died; he also sees it on
a doctor's face early on.
TONE · Elegant, journalistic, yet often emotional and philosophical
THEMES · Courage and willpower in the face of death; the uniqueness of loving life;
childhood versus adulthood
MOTIFS · Johnny's bump
Study Questions
What effect on the reader does Gunther's disclosure that Johnny died in the second
paragraph of the memoir have?
Johnny is undoubtedly a fine human being, but when can his strengths be interpreted as
failings?
Discuss Johnny's sense of humor, especially with regard to his illness.
Essay Topics
Discuss the difference in Johnny's relationships between his father and his mother.
How does Johnny mature throughout Death Be Not Proud?
How does science and medicine fail Johnny, aside from the fact that he is not saved?
(Consider the limited communication he and his parents have with his doctors.)