Death has been an important theme throughout literature, with its countless interpretations showing the different ways it has influenced different authors. Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge is described by Hardy as "The Life and Death of a Man of Character" and begins as events begin to lead Henchard to his death. Dylan Thomas, however, was able to base his depiction of death on how it was affecting his life at the time he was writing. He wrote his poetry over a broad span of time, from a young man untouched by personal death, to an adult who had lost his father and experienced war. Wilfred Owen on the other hand was surrounded by loss as he wrote his poem, in which he recounted the horrors of death that he and his companions experienced. He is revered as one of the most acclaimed poets of the Great War, the same war that took his life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayThomas began writing when he was a teenager, and his poems were quickly inspired by death, most notably in "And Death Shall Have No Rule", his first published poem. Thomas used the theme of death to inspire the idea that no matter what kind of life you lead, death will never truly have control over you. This is demonstrated in the phrase "when their bones are cleansed and the clean bones are gone" followed by "they will have stars on their elbows and on their feet"; for it implies that, although death has claimed your earthly body, a part of you will always remain. This ghostly afterlife bears a closer resemblance to scientific theory, rather than the Christian beliefs that were the majority in Thomas' time. The image of becoming stars reflects the scientific theory that all matter, including that of our bodies, was produced in stars. This could be interpreted as Thomas writing about an afterlife where we once again return to the stars to continue the cycle. Death appears many times in Hardy's novel, especially during the deaths of Susan, Lucetta and Henchard. Through Susan's death, Hardy explores the idea that the dead have no dignity. Mother Cuxsom, speaking of Susan's last wishes, said, "and the things I did not wish to see, anyone will see," meaning that all the secrets Susan had tried to keep would be revealed and all her dignity would be destroyed. This effectively succeeds in changing the mood of the novel, giving it an air of anticipation regarding the contents of a letter Susan had written on her last day of life, with the instructions "not to be opened until Elizabeth Jane's wedding". This begins Henchard's slow fall from power, as not only has he lost Susan but, as the letter would reveal, his daughter had died years ago and he was not Elizabeth-Jane's father. secrets would be revealed illuminates a new meaning in Thomas' phrase, "when their bones are cleansed and the clean bones are gone," since choosing someone clean is another way of saying "taking everything they have." Once she died, all Susan had left were her secrets, but the reader knew that they would inevitably be taken from her too. Not all of Thomas's poetry shares the optimistic outlook demonstrated in his earlier works. His next famous depiction of death, "Do Not Go Softly into That Good Night", takes a more pessimistic and violent approach, as it was written for his father who was approaching blindness and death. The poet implores his father to "get angry". and do not accept his fate withoutfight. Thomas writes "curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray", for his father had a strong and independent mind, but had been weakened and tamed by his illness The promise in this poem is simpler than that previously depicted, only described like "that good night". Yet in that verse the poet expresses his fear of death as an unknown force that is trying to take his father away from him. Comparing death to night, Thomas creates many images, one of which is a description of the helplessness he feels, as night is an inevitable part of the day, just as death is an inevitable part of life. Another interpretation is that Thomas is embracing a childhood fear, as the fear of night and darkness is a phobia shared by children around the world. Both interpretations create an atmosphere of foreboding about the poem since, unlike “And Death Shall Have No Rule,” the reader is not offered any positive side of death. Sleep is a common comparison used to refer to death in poetry, but within Wilfred Owen's poem 'Asleep', the poet implies that death is easier than life. The phrase: "He sleeps less trembling, less cold, than we who wake, and when we wake say Alas!" refers to the act of dying as less painful than the pain of those left behind Unlike Thomas, who focuses on death as a concept, and Hardy, who blames the living for many of his written deaths, Owen uses his poetry to blame. death itself. Both the lines "Sleep took him by the forehead" and "Death took him by the heart" use death and sleep as nouns rather than states of being, personifying them as the causes of suffering in his poems can be found by looking at them through the lens of war As Owen wrote, everyone was looking for a scapegoat on which to blame the damage caused by the war, and due to the scale of the events that started the First World War, everyone was able to do so. to blame different people. Owen, instead of looking at a leader or country to blame, gives the reader the choice of blaming death itself. The illnesses suffered by his family members significantly altered the way Dylan Thomas viewed death. His first poem had been calm and controlled in his choice of wording. For example, lines such as “He will be one,” “The winds of the sea,” and “Where a flower blew,” use soft, quiet language, attempting to create a placid view of death in his reader. However, in his later poetry, Thomas writes with more ferocity, producing lines such as "forked without lightning" and "who sees with blinding sight". Although both poems use natural imagery, the latter creates a much more powerful effect, which could show how Thomas wanted to inspire his father. in the fight against death and is an example of how, like Owen, Thomas describes the painful effect that death has on those left behind. Susan's death also allows Hardy to explore how death affects the living, through the effect it has had on the citizens. It was once traditional to place coins over the eyes of the recently deceased so that they would pay the ferryman who took them to the afterlife. Susan requested that her coins be buried after their use and that they be left alone, "don don't go and spend them, for I wouldn't like it", however, despite her request, it is revealed that "Christopher Coney, went to dig them up and to spend them", with the excuse that "why should death deprive life of a few pennies?". This question acts to undermine the effect of death on life, as once Susan was gone there was nothing she could do to affect theirdecisions and the living characters, although some thought it was wrong, "it was a cannibal's act", they agreed that there was no way it could affect her now, "it can't hinder him or anything now". Hardy's depiction of life versus death sees death and the afterlife as less significant than life and the living. It focused almost exclusively on the townspeople and their opinions in the immediate aftermath of her death as, where Susan's immediate family would have mourned more deeply, these characters focused on how they had been personally affected in her final moments. Lucetta's death was drastically different from Susan's just as Thomas's next poem was different from his first. Where Susan died peacefully, "After this her mother remained silent and dozed", Lucetta's illness is described as "in great mental agony". Hardy seems to use their deaths to reflect on how women lived; Susan is often described as "simple" and "meek" by Henchard and as "not what they would call screwed or sharp", by Newson. These mannerisms were reflected in his death, as very little is explained about his illness. The reader is only told that she grew weaker and weaker until she quietly died. Lucetta, on the other hand, was killed almost directly by her past. For Hardy's contemporary reader, sex outside of marriage was considered deeply shameful, and although the extent of their relationship is not made clear by Hardy, it is implied that Lucetta and Henchard had a sexual relationship in the past. When reading the love letters written by Lucetta, the villagers' reactions are not of anger or disgust, but of pride. They suggest a cream-skimming ride, creating effigies of the parties involved and parading them through the city on a donkey, as if it were a form of social justice. This suggests that Hardy is connecting their reactions to the social structure of the time. Many citizens dislike Lucetta as she puts on airs and acts above them, "she has never been one to thank me", giving their actions an air of petty spite, which adds to the tragedy felt when Lucetta miscarries and dies of their resentment. Hardy used death to illuminate Henchard's slow fall, as his world seems to collapse around him. Hardy's description of the novel is "The life and death of a man of character", defining the events of the plot as a slow build towards an inevitable death. The loss of Susan leads Henchard, through his letter, to discover that Elizabeth Jane was not his daughter. Lucetta's disappearance strengthened his depression. As he contemplates his losses, Hardy writes "Susan, Farfrae, Lucetta, Elizabeth – all were gone", which is a reminder that these figures had almost entirely made up his life in the reader's eyes, as had the years without them. they were jumped by Hardy. This writing technique highlights the loss of self that Henchard is experiencing and creates a vivid sense of dread for the reader as it foreshadows his impending death. Another interpretation of this time jump is that it was used to humanize Henchard. Before this point he presents himself as an aloof man, capable of selling his wife and child to a stranger and risking Lucetta's reputation by abandoning her too, but his dependence on those he loves begins to deteriorate his unsympathetic characteristics, leaving only pity by men. reader, because he has nothing left. The Mayor of Casterbridge is said to be "a man of character" and, throughout the chapter of Henchard's life that Hardy writes about, we see Henchard take on many different characteristics which can be illuminated in comparison to the deaths of the various men in "Don't Gogentle in that good night". Dylan Thomas's poem focuses on the "wise", "good", "wild" and "grave" men, as well as, finally, on Thomas's father. Henchard is wise and good especially in his years during the time lapse of the novel. He has managed to rise from the shame of having sold his wife and having almost nothing in life, to become a respected mayor. When he sees Susan again, he tells her "I don't drink now - I don't drink from that night" as if desperately trying to prove that he has become a better man. The wise men in Thomas' poem fear for their actions in life, as if they were wise, "they have not forked the lightning." Like Henchard, these men long for life so that they can prove their worth, a contrast that creates a vivid sense of fear, for although the wise men knew their time was coming, Henchard is not yet aware of his impending death the book progresses and trouble occurs, it becomes increasingly wild. His argument and fight with Farfrae reveals an almost bloodthirsty side to his character, with the line "this is the end of what you started this morning. Your life is in my hands". Within the poem, Thomas writes that the wild men "learn, too late, that they have grieved him in his path", this could be interpreted as the men learning, too close to death, of their many mistakes and their consequences. Henchard, after the fight, "was possessed by an irresistible desire to see Farfrae again", to gain forgiveness for his folly, however, as events continue, he is unable to restore his former friendship or write off any of his wrongs . Critic Laurence Mazzeno wrote that “his inability to understand and lack of restraint in his desires incite him to brutal aggression followed by pain and remorse”; this sheds new light on the wild men who "caught and sang the sun in flight", as the power and majesty represented by the sun shows the lack of moderation in the lives of men. serious men, as he begins to think desperately of all he could have done, yet his own death is closely tied to Thomas' description of his father. Thomas begs his father to "curse me, bless me now", as he fears he will go gently to his death. When Henchard's last moment is recounted, it is revealed that he was peaceful, and, after wandering for hours in misery, "he grew weak; and today he died." This calm, almost pathetic death comes as a shock to the reader after the vividness of his life. Just as Dylan Thomas could not believe it about his father, both the reader and his fellow characters find it difficult to believe that Henchard would "go gently into that good night" and succumb to his death without a fight. During World War II, including the events of the Holocaust and the use of the H-bomb, Dylan Thomas feared both war and the future of humanity. During the war itself he was classified as Grade III, meaning he would have been among the last to be drafted, due to his lungs and a history of illness. Thomas drank excessively during the war, as all his friends left to fight and he struggled to support his family. The poem that best illuminates Thomas's view of war is "A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by fire, of a Child in London," written in 1945 during World War II. Thomas uses rhythmic writing techniques, filling his poem with alliteration such as "mankind creating," "last light," and "sowing my seed of salt," as well as rhyming every third line. This rhythm allows readers to immerse themselves in the imagery of the poem despite its violent nature. The phrase "his mother's dark veins",.