Death and Dying
The five stages of dying as expressed in the Kubler-Ross theory may apply to some instances but they do not fit all cultural and individual cases. The five stages she describes in her book, on Death and Dying are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. However, these reactions are also subject to various cultural influences and differences.
These stages are possibly more applicable to Western secular society and typically modern responses to death and dying. Different cultures have different modes and ways of understanding the meaning of death and particular views with regard to dealing with the inevitability of the fact of death.
Most of these stages mentioned by Kubler-Ross for example would not apply to most traditional Eastern views of death and dying. In the first instance, Eastern views of death are often very different and the stage of denial would generally not be acceptable to this view. This would apply to Buddhist views where death is seen as a form of welcome 'releasement' or transcendence of death; which is a very different perspective from some more secular Western cultural views. Another example would be the various religious views which stress reincarnation as a central part of the death and this again invalidates the first four of Kubler-Ross's stages and focuses more on the acceptance stage.
The Kubler-Ross stages have been extended by some theorists to include other aspect that are more in line with thinking where death is not seen in a negative light: for example, the view of death as transcendence.
There are many ways in which individual experiences of death and dying can extend or alter the five stages. For example, many people may view death as a reprieve from a serious illness. It is my opinion that the five stages of death are appropriate when viewed in the context of secular, industrialized society. In this sense it is an acceptable general view but it cannot account for the many cultural and individual variations that exist with regard to this inescapable reality of human life.
1). For Lester, the novel is a novel of migration and the ambiguous benefits of Southern culture and traditions: when Addie demands that her family lay her body "to rest forty miles away, in Jefferson, where her relatives are buried" her "request places a burden on her family, who subsist on limited means as small farmers and occasional wage laborers in rural Northern Mississippi in the late 1920s" (Lester 2005,
Death and Dying 'My new body was weightless and extremely mobile, and I was fascinated by my new state of being. Although I had felt pain from the surgery only moments before, I now felt no discomfort at all. I was whole in every way -- perfect," (Eadie "Embraced" 30). In her groundbreaking book Embraced by the Light, Betty J. Eadie writes about her own near-death experience to help dispel the
Grief or loss can cause change -- force evolution, if you will, into the human ability for personal growth and self-actualization. Certainly grief is a human emotion; as much a part of us (Kubler-Ross, 2009). Psychologically, grief is a response to loss -- conventionally emotional, but also having physical, cognitive, social, philosophical, and even behavioral dimensions. There are numerous theories about grief, some popularized, some scholarly, but all try to
Death and Dying Heard the Owl Call My Name The first dilemma in Margaret Craven's I heard the owl call my name arises within the clergy community, as a Bishop debates whether or not to tell his young Anglican missionary that the missionary only has "a little less than two years if he's lucky" (11). For some people, living out the last two years of a life in remote Indian villages
Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. Scribner, 1997. A seminal work on the subject of death and dying, Kubler-Ross's book was initially published in the 1960s and remains relevant. On Death and Dying is a commentary on the views toward death and dying held by our culture and therefore illustrates the underlying moral and ideological principles that have guided public policy in the area of right-to-die ethics. Moreover, Kubler-Ross emphasizes
Death Rituals of Different Cultures and Countries Death Rituals of different Cultures/Countries As the globe is full of numerous civilizations and cultures in a very diverse manner, similarly, their rituals, traditions and ceremonies related to life and death are also different from one another. The people belonging to these cultures have their own sets of beliefs that are witnessed through the ways they celebrate their occasions, festivals and even the death rituals
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now