Death
How is Death portrayed?
• It is not a very nice subject, and yet, it is
inevitable.
• What do you connect with Death? Why?
• Read the following slides that chart the
history of ‘Death’ and as you read, take
notes on the information.
The Grim Reaper
• The Grim Reaper is a
personification of
Death. These days, the
Grim Reaper is usually
portrayed as a skeleton
or a cadaverous
(deathly/gaunt) figure,
garbed from head to
foot in a black habit and
hood, and carrying a
large scythe.
The Angel of Death
• The Grim Reaper is
sometimes shown as
having wings, suggesting
an angelic role (the 'Angel
of Death'). In portrayals
there is usually an
oversized sharp instrument,
either a scythe or a sickle
(but sometimes an arrow or
spear); there is often an
hourglass or a clock;
sometimes also a black
crow; and occasionally a
black steed as the Grim
Reaper's mode of transport.
Azrael
• The Angel of Death
figures in many
different religious
traditions. In Islam, for
example, he is called
Azrael, who is forever
inscribing names in a
large book, then
erasing them. You are
inscribed at birth and
erased at death.
Other cultures
• In Judaism the generic term for the Angel of Death
is Malach ha-Mavet. The Zoroastrians have Mairya,
the Babylonians had Mot. And then there is the Grim
Reaper.
• The Angel of Death could of course be a good, holy
and welcome figure, a messenger from God tasked
with gathering souls for paradise; or on the other
hand, as in the Passover and Exodus account of the
Old Testament, tasked with slaying the Egyptians
while sparing the Israelites.
• Over time, however, he has become confused with
Satan, the fallen angels and the powers of
darkness.
Greek mythology
• Kronos (or Cronus) the
Titan was given a sickle,
with which he castrated
his father Ouranos
(Uranus). Kronos then
married his sister Rhea
and governed the Titans.
But just as he had
vanquished his father, he
was afraid that his
children would vanquish
him, so one by one, as
they were born, he
swallowed them all,
except for Zeus.
Symbols
• Kronos seems to
have become
confused with
Chronos, the Greek
word for time. Thus
the Titan Kronos with
his sickle is also
depicted with an
hourglass,
representing time.
Media content
– how ‘Death’ is portrayed
– what symbols/signs you recognise as being
linked to ‘Death’
– what you think ‘Death’ may look like.
‘The Book Thief’
• We are going to be working with ‘The
Book Thief’, you should read the following
two slides and then consider how
successful you feel the author has been in
meeting his own high standards of creative
‘voice’.
Voice
• Voice is the author's style, the quality that
makes his or her writing unique, and which
conveys the author's attitude, personality,
and character; or
• Voice is the characteristic speech and
thought patterns of a first-person narrator;
a persona. Because voice has so much to
do with the reader's experience of a work
of literature, it is one of the most important
elements of a piece of writing.
A word from the author…
• The first thing is the gems . . . the second
would be story. While it’s nice to have the
gems, if the story doesn’t captivate me, it
makes finding the great images that little
bit harder. Lastly, I think voice . . . If you
can hear the characters or the narrator
talking, they can almost tell you anything
and you will go with them.’
--Markus Zusak
Death’s point of view
• “I travelled the globe as always, handing
souls to the conveyer belt of eternity.”
(Death, p.23)
• “I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only
wear a hooded black robe when it’s cold.
And I don’t have those skull-like facial
features you seem to enjoy pinning on me
from a distance.”
(Death, p.329)
Death inspired poetry
• Read through the John Dunne poem – as
you read consider:
– how Donne creates a sense of death
– how Donne uses poetic devices
– the effects of language choices on the reader
– the sentiment Donne explores in his poem