world lit
TRANSCRIPT
Valar morghulis: All men must die
A Thesis
Presented
To the
Department of Literature
College of Nursing
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement World Literature
III – 3
i
March 2012
Acknowledgement
The researcher would like to thank Mr. Elmer C. Hibek for not failing me this
school year (2011-2012).
ii
Dedication
I dedicate this work to the Lord, my parents and my friends
iii
Title……………………..…………………………………………….……………….…i
Acknowledgement………………………………….………………………….……....ii
Dedication………………………………………………………………………………iii
CHAPTER PAGE
1: The Problem
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 7
1.3 Scope 7
1.4 Significance 8
2: Review of Related Literature 9
3: Discussion 24
4: Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation
4.1 Summary 35
4.2 Conclusion 36
4.3 Recommendation 37
Bibliography 37
Biography of the Author 41
Curriculum Vitae 46
0
Chapter 1
The Problem
1.1 Introduction
It seems disrespectful to discuss the “meaning and
value” of death. The preciousness of life underlies all clinical
disciplines and preservation of life is a paramount clinical
goal. Understandably, for clinicians death is the enemy to be
conquered, and when it occurs, it represents defeat and
failure. Phenomenologically, death is nonbeing. The
essential nature of life entails activity, purpose, and making
order from disorder. Death is the antithesis of life. Nonlife is
inactive, and despite its stillness, death is chaos. Life
generates its own meaning. In contrast, on its face death
appears devoid of meaning and value.
Because philosophically I cannot know anything with
certainty about death, I must accept that death itself may (or
may not) be meaningless. Nevertheless, it is apparent that
the fact of death profoundly impacts our understanding—
and experience—of meaning in life. Although it remains
unknowable, death’s relationship to life is essential and as
profound as the relationship of darkness to light. Death need
not illuminate life, it is sufficient for death to provide the
background against which the light of life is seen. It is from
this perspective, both clinically and philosophically, that the
question: “What is the meaning and value of death?”
becomes relevant and approachable. Inquiry into the
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meaning and value of death can be approached from
cultural, individual, and communal perspectives.
If death represents ultimate ego annihilation, it is no
wonder that people have an aversion to thinking and talking
about death. Thanatologist Herman Feifel quotes
seventeenth century French writer and moralist, La
Rouchefoucauld, “One can no more look steadily at death
than at the sun.” (Byock, 2002) Contemplating nonbeing is a
Gordian knot and attempting to understand death is
inherently frustrating and can provoke considerable anxiety.
Indeed a number of psychologists, including Freud, have
considered death to be the root source of all human anxiety.
It is interesting, however, that it is equally frustrating,
although less anxiety provoking to contemplate nonexistence
before one’s conception and birth than after one’s death. It
may not be the absence of one’s being that causes
emotional pain, but the loss of having been. The anguish of
anticipated loss of relationships to others and the world is
not evoked by contemplating people and the world before
birth.
The human capacity to conceptualize time and,
therefore, to conceptualize the future underlies the meaning
of death. We can only speculate on other species’
understanding and orientation toward death. Ethological
observations reveal that animals flee from perceived threats
to life instinctively, although these instincts can be
overridden in special circumstances—dare we say, for “a
higher purpose”?—such as the defense of young offspring.
2
Over the past 20 years society in general, and the
caring professions in particular, have begun to culturally
acknowledge and integrate an acceptance of life’s end.
Fueled by the aging of the baby-boom generation and the
infirmity of their parents and by documented, widespread
deficiencies in care and in the midst of the assisted suicide
debate, society has begun asking a second layer of
questions: What value is there in the last phase of life? Can
there be any meaning and value in the process of dying?
Can there be value in grieving? Can there be value in caring
for people as they die?
The disciplines of hospice and palliative care continue
to make critical contributions to this process of social and
cultural maturation. It is, of course, proper for the caring
professions to shoulder the technical components of
society’s fundamental responsibilit ies toward its members as
they die. Clear communication, ethical decision making,
meticulous, competent, and when necessary, intensive
management of symptoms are basic standards and
reasonable expectations for care.
Physicians and nurses cannot not guarantee that all
symptoms will be fully controlled, nor that every person will
die well but on behalf of society clinicians can commit to
doing whatever is necessary to alleviate physical distress.
We can commit to not giving up, to never abandoning
patients. Whatever else we cannot do, we can commit to be
present for another, this is the ground substance of human
responsiveness. Whether or not society acknowledges a
responsibility to provide organ transplantation, experimental
3
chemotherapy or even physician-assisted suicide, we can
acknowledge a social responsibility to provide the basic
elements of human care and honor an inalienable human
right to die accompanied, in relative comfort, and in a clean,
dry bed.
The idea that a person only has is life and that nothing
survives the death of the physical body. It is generally
accepted today that it has been promoted to some kind of
self-evident truth. One would suppose that as this idea has
become so widespread then it would be supported by hard
evidence. There is no hard evidence for the claim that death
is the end. In fact, there is no evidence on whatsoever that
supports the claim that our consciousness and self. The
essence of our being, are extinguished when we die. So
when we subscribe to the idea that our consciousness and
self are extinguished at death, then a person cannot pin this
idea up on anything but belief. Nobody has ever been able to
prove that our consciousness and self are extinguished at
death.
The word death comes from Old English deað, which in
turn comes from Proto-Germanic dauthaz. This comes from
the Proto-Germanic stem dheu- meaning the 'Process, act,
condition of dying'. Dauthaz was reconstructed through the
use of the daughter tongues of Proto-Germanic, such as
doth from Old Saxon, dath from Old Frisian, dood from
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Dutch, tod from Old High German, dauði from Old Norse,
död from Swedish, and dauþas from Gothic.
Christianity is the religion most obsessed with death
and the afterlife, its alleged aftermath. While churches
encompass inlaid graves and cemeteries, both Jews and
Muslims regard the flesh of corpses as a source of ultimate
contamination. In various belief systems, the dead are either
holy or repugnant. But, what exactly is death?
Death is the term used to describe the cessation of
all biological functions that sustain a living organism.
Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old
age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or
trauma resulting in terminal injury. Deaths due to Unnatural
causes are incidences of suicides and homicides.
Death and its concept are absolutely empty. No picture
comes to mind. The concept of death has a use for the
living, while death itself has no use for anything. All we can
say about death is that it is either real or it is not real. If it is
real, then the end of one’s life is a simple termination. If it is
not real, then the end of one’s embodied life is not true
death, but a portal to another life.
The nature of death has been for millennia a central
concern of the world's religious traditions and
of philosophical enquiry, and belief in some kind
of afterlife or rebirth has been a central aspect of religious
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belief. In modern scientific enquiry, the origin and nature
of consciousness has yet to be fully understood; any such
view about the existence or non-existence of consciousness
after death therefore remains speculative.
Having no content, one must speak of death
metaphorically. For those who think death is real, death is a
blank wall. For those who think it is not real, death is a door
to another life. Whether one thinks of death as a wall or a
door, we cannot avoid using one metaphor or another. We
often say that a person who dies is relieved of suffering.
However, if death is real, then it is metaphorical even to say
that the dead do not suffer, as though something of them
remains not to suffer. As there are already many
speculations about some sort of ‘next life,’ I will focus on the
view that death is real and marks the final end of an
individual’s life. As Ludwig Wittgenstein famously put it,
“Death is not an experience in life.” The nature of death
has been for millennia a central concern of the
world's religious traditions and of philosophical enquiry, and
belief in some kind of afterlife or rebirth has been a central
aspect of religious belief. In modern scientific enquiry, the
origin and nature of consciousness has yet to be fully
understood; any such view about the existence or non-
existence of consciousness after death therefore remains
speculative.
6
Having no content, one must speak of death
metaphorically. For those who think death is real, death is a
blank wall. For those who think it is not real, death is a door
to another life. Whether one thinks of death as a wall or a
door, we cannot avoid using one metaphor or another. We
often say that a person who dies is relieved of suffering.
However, if death is real, then it is metaphorical even to say
that the dead do not suffer, as though something of them
remains not to suffer. As there are already many
speculations about some sort of ‘next life,’ I will focus on the
view that death is real and marks the final end of an
individual’s life. As Ludwig Wittgenstein famously put it,
“Death is not an experience in life.”
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The study seeks to answer the following questions:
1. What are the similarities in the attitude of the main
characters in the different stories?
2. How did the main character/s act in facing death?
3. What unusual event/s happened in the story? How did
the different characters react when they are confronted
with an unusual happening?
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1.3 Scope
This study would discuss short stories of Guy de
Maupassant related to the murder, suicide, and revenge.
Any topic which is not given in the aforementioned statement
would not be discussed in this paper.
This Literature thesis only included five short stories
from the book ―Original Short Stories by Guy de
Maupassant. The five stories included are the following: 1)
The Horrible, 2) The Devil, 3) Suicides, 4) Dead Woman’s
Secret, and 5) A Vendetta.
8
1.4 Significance
This study will be one of the building blocks of more
studies to come about the different topics that it tackles. It
would validate the previous studies that were done in order
to confirm its authenticity. Also, it would provide references
for future researchers who would be conducting a similar
study. This type of work would enrich the knowledge of the
people as it adds to the collection of researches that we
have. Moreover, the readers would be able to give more
value to the most precious gift that we have –life
9
Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature
Death
Humans have a remarkable capacity for committing
violence against themselves and others, causing 1.6 million
violent deaths a year -- half of those by suicide, according to
a new study from the World Health Organization. Someone
kills themselves every 40 seconds, someone is murdered
every 60 seconds and someone dies in a war every 100
seconds, according to the report released Thursday in
Geneva. And for every person who dies, another 15 to 20
suffer grievous physical harm. The report, which took three
years to compile, found enormous differences in violent
death across the globe. The murder rate in Colombia, for
example, was nearly 85 deaths per 100,000 people ages 10
to 29, compared with about 1.5 per 100,000 throughout much
of Europe. Researchers found a suicide rate in Lithuania of
52 per 100,000 people, compared with just five per 100,000
in Mexico.
Physiological death is now seen as less an event than a
process: conditions once considered indicative of death are
now reversible. Where in the process a dividing line is drawn
between life and death depends on factors beyond the
presence or absence of vital signs. In general, clinical
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death is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination
of legal death. A patient with working heart and
lungs determined to be brain dead can be pronounced
legally dead without clinical death occurring. Precise medical
definition of death, in other words, becomes more
problematic, paradoxically, asscientific
knowledge and medicine advance.
Discussion of making of meaning in face of the
apparent chaos of death would be incomplete without
considering the role of rituals. Every religion, as well as
every ethnic and regional culture, encompasses traditions,
customs, and rituals in response to death. Since the early
stages of the scientific revolution, public attitudes adherence
with traditional customs and rituals surrounding death has
steadily eroded. There has been a tendency to view such
rituals as superstitious or somehow primitive. (Byock, 2002)
There is now evidence that this trend is beginning to
reverse. Organized, informal vigils within neighborhoods
surrounding the impending death of a beloved individual may
include prayers, singing, and placing luminaria along the
person’s front walk. It has become fairly common for hospice
and palliative care programs to offer music as a means of
soothing and honoring a dying person. Although traditional
funerals and formal religious services may be on the wane,
memorial services remain well attended. In addition to
offering a chance for people to grieve together,
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contemporary memorials are often lively celebrations of the
deceased individual, encompassing photographs and videos
of the person along with music and readings that held
meaning for the deceased or hold meaning for friends and
family. It is possible to see that renewed interest and
spontaneous generation of new ritual forms as a
sophisticated, well-considered effort to respond to the
tragedy of death by making meaning, investing shared time
and activity with meaning . (Byock, 2002)
Natural death
Most people would probably agree that it is preferable
for a person's death to be a natural death - but what does
that mean?
The only definition of a natural death is a natural death is a
death that results from a natural disease process, distinct
from a death that results from accident or violence.
In contrast, death caused by active intervention is
called unnatural death. The "unnatural" causes are usually
given as accident, misadventure, suicide, or homicide
(Bryant, 2003). In some settings, other categories may be
added. For example, a prison may track the deaths
of inmates due to acute intoxication separately. (Stark,
2000)
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Unnatural death
According to Rynearson, (1986) when someone close
dies, it is natural to mourn their loss—to think of them with
sorrow and miss their presence in your life. If they died from
a natural death, then the dying would be understandable.
One could understand what was going wrong in their body
and why they couldn’t be saved—and if the natural dying
went on for weeks, months, or years, you would have time to
adjust to what was happening and could begin to say
goodbye.
This is not the case with unnatural dying; when someone
close dies an unnatural death, you not only mourn their loss
but are forced to adjust to the unnatural way that they died.
It is a double blow: not only have they died, but the way they
died is senseless. Unnatural dying is abrupt, and traumatic.
There is no time for goodbye.
Unnatural dying contains unique dimensions that make it
different than natural dying:
Violence—the dying is injurious and often mutilating.
Violation—the dying is transgressive. Except for suicide,
unnatural dying is forced upon the decreased who has no
choice in avoiding or preventing it.
Volition—the dying is a human act of intention or some
degree of negligence or fault with accident.
13
Murder
By definition, murder is the unlawful kill ing of
another human. As the loss of a human being inflicts
enormous grief upon the individuals close to the victim,
as well as the fact that the commission of a murder is
highly detrimental to the good order within society, most
societies both present and in antiquity have considered
it a most serious crime worthy of the harshest of
punishment.
Murder shall be taken to have been committed
where the act of the accused, or thing done by him,
omitted to be done, causing the death, was done or
omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with
intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon a
person. (Hawkins, 2009)
According to Dressler (2009)
The elements of common law murder are:
1. Unlawful - This distinguishes murder from
kill ings that are done within the boundaries of law, such
as an execution or the kill ing of enemy soldiers during
a war.
2. Killing - At common law life ended
with cardiopulmonary arrest; the total and permanent
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cessation of blood circulation and respiration. With
advances in medical technology courts have adopted
irreversible cessation of all brain function as marking
the end of life.
3. Of a human - This element presents the issue
of when life begins. At common law a fetus was not a
human being. Life began when the fetus passed
through the birth canal and took its first breath.
4. By another human - The requirement that the
person killed be someone other than the perpetrator
excluded suicide from the definition of murder.
5. With malice aforethought - originally malice
aforethought carried its everyday meaning—a
deliberate and premeditated kill ing of another
motivated by il l will. Murder necessarily required that
an appreciable time pass between the formation and
execution of the intent to kill. The courts broadened the
scope of murder by eliminating the requirement of
actual premeditation and deliberation as well as true
malice. All that was required for malice aforethought to
exist is that the perpetrator act with one of the four
states of mind that constitutes "malice.”
The four states of mind recognized as constituting
"malice" are:
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i . Intent to kill,
i i. Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm short of
death,
iii . Reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high
risk to human life (sometimes described as an
"abandoned and malignant heart"), or
iv. Intent to commit a dangerous felony (the
"felony-murder" doctrine).
Under state of mind (i), intent to kill, the deadly
weapon rule applies. Thus, if the defendant intentionally
uses a deadly weapon or instrument against the victim,
such use authorizes a permissive inference of intent to
kill. In other words, "intent follows the bullet." Examples
of deadly weapons and instruments include but are not
limited to guns, knives, deadly toxins or chemicals or
gases and even vehicles when intentionally used to
harm a victim.
Under state of mind (iii), an "abandoned and
malignant heart", the killing must result from
defendant's conduct involving a reckless indifference to
human life and a conscious disregard of an
unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Under state of mind (iv), the felony-murder
doctrine, the felony committed must be an inherently
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dangerous felony, such as burglary, arson, rape,
robbery or kidnapping. Importantly, the underlying
felony cannot be a lesser included offense such as
assault, otherwise all criminal homicides would be
murder as all are felonies.
Many jurisdictions divide murder by degrees. The
most common divisions are between first and second
degree murder. Generally, second degree murder is
common law murder, and first degree is an aggravated
form. The aggravating factors of first degree murder are
a specific intent to kill, premeditation, and deliberation.
In addition, murder committed by acts such as
strangulation, poisoning, or lying in wait is also treated
as first degree murder.
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Exclusions
Capital punishment ordered by a legitimate court of law
as the result of a conviction in a criminal trial with due
process for a serious crime.
Killing of enemy combatants by lawful combatants in
accordance with lawful orders in war, although ill icit kill ings
within a war may constitute murder or homicidal war crimes.
The administration of lethal drugs by a doctor to
a terminally il l patient, if the intention is solely to alleviate
pain, is seen in many jurisdictions as a special case
(Otowski, 1997).
In some cases, kill ing a person who is attempting to kill
another is classified as self-defense and thus, not murder.
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Capital Punishment
Capital punishment has in the past been practiced
by most societies; currently only fifty-eight nations
actively practice it, and ninety-seven countries have
abolished it It is a matter of active controversy in
various countries and states, and positions can vary
within a single political ideology or cultural region. In
the European Union member states, Article 2 of
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union prohibits the use of capital punishment
Administration of lethal drugs
Passive euthanasia is based on the fundamental
ethical principle that informed, autonomous patients
have the right to refuse any and all medical treatments,
no matter what the consequences. Yet, under
circumstances of identical or even greater suffering
where no life-sustaining treatment is being used,
current law forbids the physician to take direct action
designed to achieve the same end—even if it is
rationally requested by the patient and would result in a
more humane death. (Craig, 2008)
Self-defense
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Acting in self-defense or in defense of another
person is generally accepted as legal justification for
kill ing a person in situations that would otherwise have
been murder. However, a self-defense kill ing might be
considered manslaughter if the killer established control
of the situation before the kill ing took place. In the case
of self-defense it is called a "justifiable homicide". A
kill ing simply to prevent the theft of one's property may
not be a justifiable homicide, depending on the laws of
a place.
Insanity
Mental disorder may apply to a wide range of
disorders including psychosis caused
by schizophrenia and dementia, and excuse the person
from the need to undergo the stress of a trial as to
liability. Usually, sociopathy and other personality
disorders are not legally considered insanity, because
of the belief they are the result of free will in many
societies. In some jurisdictions, following the pre-trial
hearing to determine the extent of the disorder, the
defense of "not guilty by reason of insanity" may be
used to get a not guilty verdict. This defense has two
elements:
20
1. That the defendant had a serious mental il lness,
disease, or defect.
2. That the defendant's mental condition, at the time of the
killing, rendered the perpetrator unable to determine right
from wrong, or that what he or she was doing was wrong.
Under the French Penal Code:
Article 122-1
A person is not criminally liable who, when the act
was committed, was suffering from a psychological or
neuropsychological disorder which destroyed his
discernment or his ability to control his actions.
A person who, at the time he acted, was suffering
from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder
which reduced his discernment or impeded his ability to
control his actions, remains punishable; however, the
court shall take this into account when it decides the
penalty and determines its regime.
Those who successfully argue a defense based on
a mental disorder are usually referred to mandatory
clinical treatment until they are certified safe to be
released back into the community, rather than prison.
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Suicide
Suicide has been a popular topic among social
scientists ever since Emile Durkheim’s (1897) seminal
work Le Suicide. Sociologists and psychologists, in
particular, have produced an enormous literature on the
subject. But economists’ contributions to the study of
suicide have been few and far between, especially in
the realm of theory. With the exception of a handful of
works, economists have largely steered clear of the
subject. Yet economists possess a set of tools,
characterized by uncertainty.
Over one million people die by suicide every year.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that it
is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide and the
National Safety Council rates it sixth in the United
States. It is a leading cause of death among teenagers
and adults under thirty five. The rate of suicide is far
higher in men than in women, with males worldwide
three to four times more likely to kill themselves than
females. There are an estimated ten to twenty million
non-fatal attempted suicides every year worldwide.
There have been many philosophical arguments
made that contend that suicide is immoral and
unethical. (Craig, 2008) One popular argument is that
many of the reasons for committing suicide – such
as depression, emotional pain, or economic hardship –
22
are transitory and can be ameliorated by therapy and
through making changes to some aspects of one's life.
A common adage in the discourse surrounding suicide
prevention sums up this view: "Suicide is a permanent
solution to a temporary problem." However, the
argument against this is that while emotional pain may
seem transitory to most people, and in many cases it is,
in other cases it may be extremely difficult or even
impossible to resolve, even through counseling or
lifestyle change, depending upon the severity of the
affliction and the person's ability to cope with their pain.
Examples of this are incurable disease or severe,
lifelong mental il lness
Choosing death before dishonor is seen by some
philosophers and ethicists as a rational reason to
commit suicide. According to these experts, committing
suicide can be a rational, morally permissible, and
sometimes even obligatory act. Victor Cosculluela,
author of The Ethics of Suicide, contends that suicide is
rational and permissible if it serves as an expression of
one’s deepest values or as an escape from an
unbearable existence. Suicide is obligatory, he
continues, if it will protect others from death or
suffering, such as a soldier falling on a grenade or a
pilot crashing a disabled plane into a hill to avoid a field
23
full of children. (Leone, Stalcup, Barbour & Tamara,
1998)
Health care professionals believe that suicide can
never be a rational choice. Leon R. Kass, an ethicist,
physician, and outspoken critic of the right-to-die
movement, argues that the determination to kill oneself
is often made in response to feelings of guilt, fear,
despair, or rejection. Suicide in these situations may be
understandable and even forgivable, but it is still an
irrational and emotional response. Furthermore,
because death is unimaginable, Kass contends, one
cannot accurately judge whether death would be
preferable to life. Therefore, he concludes, to choose
death cannot possibly be a rational decision. (Kass,
1990)
Author Joyce Carol Oates agrees: “Rationally one
cannot ‘choose’ Death because Death is an unknown
experience, and perhaps it isn’t even an ‘experience’—
perhaps it is simply nothing; and one cannot imagine
nothing.” (Leone, et al. 1998) Oates and Kass assert
that the merits of other actions can be imagined
because it is possible to discuss them with people who
have experienced them; death, however, is totally
unknowable.
24
25
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or
group in response to a grievance, be it real or
perceived. It is also
called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it
may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form
of justice.
Revenge makes a person’s body shudder in fear; a
revenge essay can vouch for this. Revenge essays can
deal with a lot of topics and characters. For example, a
college essay paper on revenge could talk about
childhood anger or enmity that turned violent in latter
life. The essays on revenge could even speak about
what revenge is all about. A good revenge essay should
talk about how to avoid such revengeful feelings and
how to overcome them. A revenge essay could define
revenge and make it simple for a common man to
understand the deep-rooted concepts.
Of the psychological, moral, and cultural
foundation for revenge, philosopher Martha
Nussbaum has written: "The primitive sense of the just
—remarkably constant from several ancient cultures to
modern institutions ...—starts from the notion that a
human life ... is a vulnerable thing, a thing that can be
26
invaded, wounded, violated by another's act in many
ways. For this penetration, the only remedy that seems
appropriate is a counter invasion, equally deliberate,
equally grave. And to right the balance truly,
the retribution must be exactly, strictly proportional to
the original encroachment. It differs from the original
act only in the sequence of time and in the fact that it is
response rather than original act—a fact frequently
obscured if there is a long sequence of acts and
counteracts"
In terms of the philosophical debate, and as
Nussbaum states in a later work, the pro compassion
person recognizes that private revenge is an especially
unsatisfactory, costly way to effect the punishment of
offenders, often causing the exchange of damages to
perpetuate without limit, and cycles of provocation and
retaliation, represented by vendettas or ‘blood feuds’,
may indeed be carried out over long periods of time,
poisoning the entire climate of social life (Equity &
Mercy 1999).
The feelings of envy and deep hatred which can
ultimately lead to revenge would also be analysed,
Here, revenge is no longer part of a simple heroic code
but is seen as a long-protracted and complex feeling
that consumes the speaker and is symbolically
27
represented by a growing tree bearing a poisonous
apple (Equity & Mercy 1999).
28
Chapter 3
Discussion
1. What are attitude towards death of the main character/
characters in the different stories?
In The Horrible, the attitude of General de G---, the
main character, towards death was horrifying based
from his experience. Being a veteran and an
experienced soldier, death for him is not a traumatic
experience. But there are instances where deaths in the
story were unreasonable, that could lead into madness
and bafflement.
In The Devil, La Rapet viewed death as a source
of income. La Rapet nursing for the dying earned her
money does her attitude towards death is more on the
occupational level. Since there is influence of money,
greed also will eventually come.
In Suicide, M. X-- attitude towards death as an end
to the repetition of daily routines which he repulsed
him. Memories of her past made him reflect on what he
is on the present time, seeing that his past was better
than his present death is a way where he would never
degenerate.
29
In Dead Woman’s Secret the son and daughter of
the dead mother viewed death here as a painful and
sad experience. The memories here sweet memories of
their mother turned into anguish because their mother
was no more.
In A Vendetta the widow of Paolo Saverini viewed
death here as a way of fulfil l ing vengeance for his son.
So the attitude towards death here is ire, although not
stated in the story.
2. How did the main character/s act in facing death?
In The Horrible, General de Ge--- when faced with
death was emotionally in pain that he knelt down and
cried at the scene of the one the manslaughter.
In The Devil, La Rapet was in fact the one
responsible for the death of Mother Bontemps. When
facing death she acted like the Devil whom she had
described in the story.
In Suicides, M. X--- wanted to be dead.
30
In Dead Woman’s Secret the son and the daughter
were grieving because the mother whom they have
loved until the end died.
3. What unusual event/s happened in the story? How did
the different character/s react when they are confronted
with an unusual happening?
In The Horrible, two unusual things happened: the
manslaughter of the accused spy, and the cannibalism
of the soldiers in Flatters Mission. General de G--- saw
the true horror of death. The deaths were too much for
him that he could not cope yet that time.
In The Devil, the unusual thing that happened here
for La Rapet was that Honore Bontemps mother
continued to live on despite of approaching death. She
confronted this unusual happening by disguising herself
as the Devil that scared the mother to her death.
In Suicides, the unusual thing for M. X--- is when
he started to read the letters of the past from his
drawers that reminded him of how his life before was
better with companions of his youth. He confronted this
unusual thing by committing suicide.
31
In Dead Woman’s Secret, the unusual thing that
happened here was when the son and the daughter
surprisingly found out about father was not their
biological father. They confronted this unusual thing by
severing their ties with their mother.
In A Vendetta , the unusual thing that happened
was the quarrel between Antoine Saverini, the son of
the widow of Paolo Saverini and Nicolas Ravolati. No
one knew who was right or wrong, No justice was given
to the death to Antoine Saverini and this lead to the
vengeance of the widow of Paolo Saverini against
Nicolas Ravolati. She took justice in her own hands to
avenge his son’s death and killed Nicolas Ravolati.
Summary:
The Horrible
The story started when two men were talking about how
horrible a certain accident involving two men and three
women drowned before the eyes of their guests. General de
G--- then interrupted them and told them two story of what
‘Horrible’ really means. First was from his personal
experience. It was during the war of 1870. They were
defeated by the Prussians; disbanded, demoralized, and
32
exhausted they travel to the meet up point. It was very cold
that day, and the earth was covered with snow. They could
not rest nor stop from walking for when they do the coldness
of the weather would freeze their joint and also the blood
circulating and thus kill ing them in a matter of seconds. As
much as they could not leave any one behind, they cannot
do anything because once they sat down to rest they were
already dead man. So they continued without stopping.
Two gendarmes came, holding a man in their arms. And
that same man was accused of being a spy because he kept
asking about information about the artil lery. The word spy
spread like wildfire within them and much anger was stirred
the air; they wanted him dead. Being in command of a
battalion, General de G--- wanted to speak but he was afraid
his authority is would not be any more recognize due to the
rage they have to the enemy after losing to them in battle.
Then a man from his behind struck down the accused spy,
flung him against the tree, and immediately shot him. The
accused spy was shot pointlessly, soldiers fought with one
another just to get shot of shooting the accused spy. Due to
the relentless shooting, they attracted the Prussians. In
panic, everybody ran away leaving the accused spy with
General de G--- and the two gendarmes who brought the
accused spy.
33
They searched the body accused spy only to find out
that this man was really a woman. He could not believe that
the accused spy was a woman, whom has been shot
countless of times, was in fact a woman. He could not speak
as the two gendarmes wait for his opinion. Then one of them
slowly said that ‘Perhaps she came looking for her son of
hers in the artillery, whom she had not heard from’. The
other man replied ‘perhaps, indeed, that is so’. General de
G--- was in so much pain at the sight of the dead murdered
stranger.
The other story he got from interrogating a survivor of
the Flatters Mission, an Algerian sharpshooter. His story
started at a voyage, they were accompanied by pirates that
resemble pirates who voyages the sea before. One day in
the middle of the desert, their Colonel, Flatters was betrayed
and got most of his men massacred. The remaining survivors
began to retreat with the two camels they still have that
brought their remaining provisions. They journeyed through
the scorching sun which burned them.
As they travel a tribe came to them and offered them
dates. Little did they know that the dates were poisoned and
so almost all the Frenchman died. Later that night their two
camels were stolen by the Arabs together with their
provisions. Then the survivors understood that they
eventually had to eat each other when they found out that
34
they had no more provisions. As they travelled they
stumbled on a spring, they took turns in drinking.
One morning, one of them travelers, turned to his
comrade. His comrade did not run but instead he lied down
the ground and waited for the other approaching man until
he is in range of his gunpoint. He killed the approaching man
and the others rushed to get their share. The one who killed
the fallen man, cut the corpse into pieces and distributed it
among themselves. This only kept them full for two days,
and so they begin to kill one after the other so that they
could feed on their flesh. The last one to die was their
quartermaster, Pobeguin, the night where the supplies came.
In the end General de G--- said ‘do you understand now
what I meant by horrible’.
The Devil
The story started when Honore Bontempts’ mother was
ill and was about to die. He wanted to get his wheat but the
doctor said that he needs to be with his mother because she
may die any moment. Since he cannot be with his mother for
he had to get his wheat he asked La Rapet.
La Rapet’s job was to watch over the dead and the
dying in short she nursed people until they eventually die.
Honore was asking how much would La Rapet service would
cost. She had a fixed rate, one for rich people and one for
35
poor people and it was per day. Even for the poor people
Honore thinks it was still too much, so he bargained a fixed
price until her mother dies. La Rapet knew that there was
some kind of trick so she went to see his mother to see her
condition.
She assessed his mother, checked for her vital signs
and concluded that she will l ive only for two to three days.
Upon saying this se asked for six francs for three days.
Honore who did not like the price bargained again;
eventually he agreed to pay six francs per day. As the days
go by it seems that Mother Bontemps was not dying but
rather she was doing well on living that is. This angered the
La Rapet, she felted that she was tricked by Honore, who
just got his wheat under favorable circumstances.
La Rapet asked Mother Bontemps if she have seen the
Devil. Mother Bontemps replied no, and thus, La Rapet
described the Devil. She said that the Devil appeared
whenever someone is about to die with a broom in his hand
and a saucepan on his head. Then she named persons who
the Devil visited. La Rapet suddenly vanished from Mother
Bontemps foot of the bed; she took a sheet out of the
cupboard and wrapped herself in it; she put the iron
saucepan on his head and held the broom in his right hand.
She then removed the curtain which hung from the foot of
36
the bed. Upon seeing this sight, Mother Bontemps was
terrified, and with her superhuman effort she began to stand
up and tried to escape. Mother Bontemps could only lift her
chest out of her bed; this was the last thing she could have
done. La Rapet watch her, as Mother Bontemps eventually
collapsed and died. La Rapet then put everything back
together – the sheet, the saucepan, and the broom. Honore
got home and found La Rapet praying. He calculated
immediately how much she owed her and paid only five
francs since she stayed only for two days.
Suicides
The story started with M. X---, a man owner of a
restaurant, committing suicide. The cause of his suicide was
not cause by tragedies of neither love nor financial troubles;
it was a mystery. Until they found a letter written before he
killed himself. His letter speaks about his past; how he lived
his everyday in repetition. This repetition made him feel
weary and disgusted he said it was like going to the same
theatre. He Here he reminisced how everything repeats itself
endlessly– the way he the key in the lock, the place where
he find his matches, the first thing which meets his eye when
he enters his room, the manner that he shaves. He even
hated the people whom he used to have pleasure being with.
37
He was disgusted with the same ideas, the same joys, the
same pleasures, the same habits, the same beliefs. He said
that good digestion is everything in life. A sick stomach
induces skepticism unbelief, nightmares and the desire of
death.
When he sat down on his arm chair, where he have
been sitting for thirty years, he tried to clear out his drawers.
So he opened his desk and then he disposed majority of
them. But then he saw papers, yellowed by age. He read
them and the first letter he read did not really affected him,
they were recent letters from his living friends. As he further
examined these letters, he saw one that has his name
written in a large, rather bold kind of way. Suddenly, he
realized that it was from his dearest childhood friend. Then
his memories became vivid and he saw his friend as if he
came back to life. As he read letters one after the other, he
felt that he was travelling through his whole life, he saw
people he only recognized by face, and he even saw his
mother and reminisced the days when he was just a child.
Then he opened another drawer he found himself in his days
where he was in love. The last letter he opened goes way
back fifty years. It was form his mom, he wrote during his
writing class.
Dead Woman’s Secret
38
The story started of how a mother died in the story. She
had two offspring: a magistrate and a Nun. As they were
mourning for their mother’s death a priest came by to mourn
with them but they wished to be alone with their mother. As
they mourn at their dead mother, memories of their mother
before were torturing that day. They recalled circumstances,
words, smiles intonations of their mother. They remembered
things which she had said. They were very lonely for their
love for their mother never changed even up to the day their
mother died. As they looking back, they remembered their
mother reading old letters from their father. That day they
tried to find them and read them; there was a letter for each
of them– their mom, the son, and the daughter. As Sister
Eulalie was about to finis reading the letter to her mother,
she suddenly stopped then said that the letters should be
buried with their mother and then continued again and
picked a letter where no name was written. Again she
stopped and her brother, the magistrate, snatched the letter
from her sister while she was reading. He looked for a
signature but he did not see any all he saw was the ‘The
man who adores you’ and the name ‘Henry’. Their father
name was Rene so the letters was not from him. The sister
picked up the letters and she put them back in the drawers.
Then they finally went to bed.
39
A Vendetta
The story started with the widow of Paolo Saverini son,
Antoine Saverini getting murdered by Nicolad Ravolati. The
mother swore to avenge his son’s death. The mother could
not sleep all she thought about was her vengeance, she
could not wait, she could not forget, and she did not have
any peace of mind. One night as her dog, Semillante, was
howling she thought of an idea and she thought over it until
morning.
The following day, she then went to church and prayed
for her to avenge her son. When she got home she
established the required setting for her plot to avenge his
son’s death. An inverted barrel served as the dog’s kennel,
not so far from it stood a stick with a dummy made of old
rags and straws. The mother starved the dog for two days.
She bought a piece of sausage and was hanged like a
necktie it in the dummy. As the dog smelled this scent, it
became frantic focus on the food. She then untied the dog
and with one leap the hungry beast tear the dummy’s throat.
For three months with two days interval, this kind of training
continued. Soon even with just the command of the mother
the dog would tear the throat of the dummy. Then when then
proper time has come, the mother first went to confession,
and took the communion. They went to Longroso in the
40
bakery where Nicolas Ravolati was and there she
commanded the dog to eat him up. The dog, hungry for meat
jumped on the man, dug her fangs into his throat and tore it.
That night the mother finally slept well.
41
Chapter 4
Summary, Conclusion, Recommendation
4.1 Summary
Having no content, one must speak of death
metaphorically. For those who think death is real, death is a
blank wall. For those who think it is not real, death is a door
to another life. Whether one thinks of death as a wall or a
door, we cannot avoid using one metaphor or another. We
often say that a person who dies is relieved of suffering.
However, if death is real, then it is metaphorical even to say
that the dead do not suffer, as though something of them
remains not to suffer. As there are already many
speculations about some sort of ‘next life,’ I will focus on the
view that death is real and marks the final end of an
individual’s life. As Ludwig Wittgenstein famously put it,
“Death is not an experience in life.”
Authors from various disciplines have brought forth
reasons for preventing all, or at least virtually all, suicide.
We will consider these arguments in an attempt to determine
whether or not, and in what circumstances, others should
prevent a suicide from realizing his intentions. We shall
reach a moderate conclusion: some suicide may legitimately
be prevented, but not all. Arguments for the view that all
suicide should be prevented are unacceptable.
42
43
4.2 Conclusion
Death is central to the meaning and value of human life
as experienced by individuals and by communities. Death
does not give meaning to life, but does provide the backdrop
against which life is lived.
Fundamental responsibilit ies of human beings toward
one another are defined by the need to respond to the facts
of illness and death and contribute to the meaning and value
of individual and communal life. Acting on behalf of society,
the clinical professions bear critical responsibilit ies for
caring for those who are dying and bereaved. However,
overreliance on professionals as a means of denying or
distancing ourselves from death and grief can diminish the
fullness and richness of living and erode the experience of
meaning and value in our lives.
Beyond acknowledging and honoring basic obligations,
individuals, families and communities have the capacity to
respond to the ultimate problem of death in a creative
manner including the performance of rituals that reflect and
advance values of human worth, dignity, and enduring
connection. The clinical professions can lead by setting
standards for excellence and by providing care that is not
only competent but unabashedly loving. In so doing meaning
and value is created by direct intention.
44
People vary in their view of death. Their general idea
and affectation toward the matter is influenced mainly by
their culture, which includes their community or family
traditions and education and faith in their religion.
These findings suggest that great diversity may be
found in the matters of death. Each person holds their
individual perceptions and feelings regarding the topic, and
Guy de Maupassant was definitely able to give a great
preview of these unique views and emotions in his prose.
4.3 Recommendation
The researcher recommends more extensive and
general studies regarding perceptions on the topic death and
its other sub topic. Perhaps qualitative research will improve
and stabilize the foundations set by this study. Also,
personal accounts that are non-fictional should be integrated
in students' learning in order to derive lessons and insight
regarding these matters through the knowledge and critical
analysis of others' experiences. Through this, others, may
be able to develop their own and disposition on death.
45
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48
Biography of the author
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (5
August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a popular
19th-century French writer, considered one
of the fathers of the modern short story and
one of the form's finest exponents.
A protégé of Flaubert, Maupassant's stories
are characterized by their economy of style
and efficient, effortless dénouement. Many
of the stories are set during the Franco-
Prussian War of the 1870s and several describe the futility of war and
the innocent civilians who, caught in the conflict, emerge changed. He
authored some 300 short stories, six novels, three travel books, and
one volume of verse. The story "Boule de Suif" ("Ball of Fat", 1880) is
often accounted his masterpiece. His most unsettling horror story, "Le
Horla" (1887), was about madness and suicide.
Henri-René-Albert-Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5,
1850 at the château de Miromesnil, near Dieppe in the Seine-
Inférieure (now Seine-Maritime) department in France. He was the
first son of Laure Le Poittevin and Gustave de Maupassant, both from
prosperous bourgeois families. When Maupassant was eleven and his
brother Hervé was five, his mother, an independent-minded woman,
risked social disgrace to obtain a legal separation from her husband.
49
After the separation, Le Poittevin kept her two sons, the elder
Guy and younger Hervé. With the father’s absence, Maupassant’s
mother became the most influential figure in the young boy’s life. She
was an exceptionally well read woman and was very fond of classical
literature, especially Shakespeare. Until the age of thirteen, Guy
happily lived with his mother, to whom he was deeply devoted,
at Étretat, in the Villa des Verguies, where, between the sea and the
luxuriant countryside, he grew very fond of fishing and outdoor
activities. At age thirteen, he was sent to a small seminary
near Rouen for classical studies.
In October 1868, at the age of 18, he saved the famous
poet Algernon Charles Swinburne from drowning off the coast
of Étretat at Normandy. As he entered junior high school, he met the
great author Gustave Flaubert.
He first entered a seminary at Yvetot, but deliberately got
himself expelled. From his early education he retained a marked
hostility to religion. Then he was sent to the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in
Rouen where he proved a good scholar indulging in poetry and taking
a prominent part in theatricals.
The Franco-Prussian War broke out soon after his graduation
from college in 1870; he enlisted as a volunteer and fought bravely.
Afterwards, in 1871, he left Normandy and moved to Paris where he
spent ten years as a clerk in the Navy Department. During these ten
tedious years his only recreation and relaxation was canoeing on
50
theSeine on Sundays and holidays. Gustave Flaubert took him under
his protection and acted as a kind of literary guardian to him, guiding
his debut in journalism and literature. At Flaubert's home he met Émile
Zola and the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, as well as many of the
proponents of the realist and naturalist schools.
In 1878 he was transferred to the Ministry of Public Instruction and
became a contributing editor of several leading newspapers such
as Le Figaro, Gil Blas, Le Gaulois and l'Écho de Paris. He devoted his
spare time to writing novels and short stories.
In 1880 he published what is considered his first masterpiece,
"Boule de Suif", which met with an instant and tremendous success.
Flaubert characterized it as "a masterpiece that will endure." This was
Maupassant's first piece of short fiction set during the Franco-
Prussian War, and was followed by short stories such as "Deux
Amis", "Mother Savage", and "Mademoiselle Fifi".
The decade from 1880 to 1891 was the most fertile period of
Maupassant's life. Made famous by his first short story, he worked
methodically and produced two or sometimes four volumes annually.
He combined talent and practical business sense, which made him
wealthy.
In 1881 he published his first volume of short stories under the
title of La Maison Tellier; it reached its twelfth edition within two years;
in 1883 he finished his first novel, Une Vie (translated into English
as A Woman's Life), 25,000 copies of which were sold in less than a
51
year. In his novels, he concentrated all his observations scattered in
his short stories. His second novel Bel-Ami, which came out in 1885,
had thirty-seven printings in four months.
His editor, Havard, commissioned him to write new
masterpieces and Maupassant continued to produce them without the
slightest apparent effort. At this time he wrote what many consider to
be his greatest novel, Pierre et Jean.
With a natural aversion to society, he loved retirement, solitude,
and meditation. He traveled extensively in Algeria, Italy,
England, Brittany, Sicily, Auvergne, and from each voyage brought
back a new volume. He cruised on his private yacht "Bel-Ami," named
after his earlier novel. This feverish life did not prevent him from
making friends among the literary celebrities of his day: Alexandre
Dumas, fils had a paternal affection for him; at Aix-les-Bains he
met Hippolyte Taine and fell under the spell of the philosopher-
historian.
Flaubert continued to act as his literary godfather. His friendship
with the Goncourts was of short duration; his frank and practical
nature reacted against the ambience of gossip, scandal, duplicity, and
invidious criticism that the two brothers had created around them in
the guise of an 18th-century style salon.
Maupassant was but one of a fair number of 19th-century
Parisians who did not care for the Eiffel tower; indeed, he often ate
lunch in the restaurant at its base, not out of any preference for the
52
food, but because it was only there that he could avoid seeing its
otherwise unavoidable profile. Moreover, he and forty-six other
Parisian literary and artistic notables attached their names to letter of
protest, ornate as it was irate, against the tower's construction to the
then Minister of Public Works.
Maupassant also wrote under several pseudonyms such as
Joseph Prunier, Guy de Valmont, and Maufrigneuse (which he used
from 1881 to 1885).
In his later years he developed a constant desire for solitude, an
obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death and crazed
paranoia of persecution, that came from the syphilis he had
contracted in his early days. On January 2, in 1892, Maupassant tried
to commit suicide by cutting his throat and was committed to the
celebrated private asylum of Dr. Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris,
where he died on July 6, 1893.
Guy De Maupassant penned his own epitaph: "I have coveted
everything and taken pleasure in nothing." He is buried in Section 26
of the Cimetière du Montparnasse, Paris.
53
Curriculum Vitae
Calvin Joshua C. Crisol
33 Scout Fuentebella Quezon City
Contact no.: 09237339182
E-mail: [email protected]
Age: 19 years old
Birthday: May 11, 1992
Birthplace: UST Hospital, Sampaloc, Manila
Religion: Roman Catholic
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Tertiary UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS – COLLEGE OF
NURSING
España, Manila
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
June 2009 – Present
Secondary UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS HIGH SCHOOL
Espana, Manila
June 2005 – March 2009
Elementary LOURDES SCHOOL OF QUEZON CITY
Quezon City
June 1999 – March 2005
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCES
54
Governor, Rotaract Nursing Unit (2012-2013present)
Assistant Treasurer, Rotaract Nursing Unit (2011-2012)
Junior Officer, Rotaract Nursing Unit (2010-2011)
Treasurer of the USTHS Boy Scout of the Philippines (2008-2009)
Class President (2007-2008)
Assistant Secretary (2006-2007)
AFFILIATIONS
Rotaract Nursing Unit (2010-present)
Nursing Journal (2011-present)
Nursing COMELEC (2010-present)
Nursing Varsity Council (2010-present)
USTHS Boy Scout of the Philippines (2007-2009)
55