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East Vs West When It Comes To Death Essay

Death & Dying The general beliefs about death and dying have shifted greatly over the years and centuries of known human existence. There are surely things from before recorded and known human history that can be said about death and dying that would be intriguing. In both modern and historic times, there has been a marked difference between the way that the Western civilizations handle and perceive death and dying and Eastern philosophies do the same. There are even patterns and customs that occur when it is obvious and apparent that a person's death is imminent due to old age or sicknesses like cancer. Of course, examples of the West would include Western Europe, Australia and North America, including the United States. The East would include China, Japan and many other countries in Asia. There are some similarities between the United States and the Eastern death and dying practices and beliefs, there are also some clear and obvious differences.

Analysis

One major behavior and pattern that emerges in the United States when it comes to death and dying is denial. Many people have a hard time coming to grips with the passage of a loved...

Rather than accept the death as a natural progression of life in general and/or an eventuality that should be dealt with in a ceremonial and specific way, there are many that take a bit of time to come to grips with a person that has died. This become even more true when the death is someone that is younger than normal life expectancy. For example, if someone's father dies of cancer in his 50's or 60's, there are a lot of negative to nasty emotions that reveal themselves including grief, anger and denial. Further, people in the United States often avoid talking about death even if it is obvious that such a discussion needs to happen. Beyond that, when there are deaths of noted and public figures, this leads to a visceral public reaction that can be rather seismic and protracted in nature. When it comes to the United States, just a few examples would include when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, when any President of the United States was killed (e.g. JFK, Lincoln, etc.) or an entertainment celebrity like Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston. There are even these sorts of reactions for people that are not even American like when Princess Diana from…

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References

Essman, E. (2014). Death and Dying, from Life in the U.S.A.: The Complete Guide for Immigrants and Americans. Lifeintheusa.com. Retrieved 20 March 2016, from http://www.lifeintheusa.com/death/

Lee, S. (2009). East Asian Attitudes toward Death: A Search for the Ways to Help East Asian Elderly Dying in Contemporary America. The Permanente Journal, 13(3), 55. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2911815/
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