Death By Landscape By Bharati Mukherjee's Management Of Grief

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The Suddenness of Death When dealing with death individuals have different methods of coping with grief in order to make the mourning period more tolerable. Certain factors allow people to heal faster than others. In “Management of Grief” by Bharati Mukherjee, the protagonist Shaila manages to accept the death of her family and move on with her life. However, in “Death by Landscape” by Margaret Atwood, the main character, Lois has immense difficulty accepting the death of her best friend which causes her to lose meaning in her own life. Both Shaila and Lois deal with the same effects of grief which includes denial, finding closure, and feeling dissatisfied with their lives, however one is able to move forward while the other is not due to their specific positions. Death is a very traumatic devastating matter that can have distinct effects on people. Depending on how the ones impacted handle life after death they can either accept it or let it destroy their lives. Denial is a very common reaction after a loved one passes away. It is even …show more content…

In “Death by Landscape” when Lois grows old she still feels there is a part absent from her life which leads to her missing out on her own life. Lois throughout her whole life thought about Lucy “as if she was listening for another voice, the voice of a person who should have been there but was not” (23). Whereas in the “Management of Grief” some relatives of the deceased are quick to move on “the widowers among us are being shown new bride candidate” (1191). Shaila lives in a culture that focuses on moving on after death and starting a new life oppose to Lois who can quietly grieve and focus on the past and no one will notice. Shaila is able to move on because she is surrounded by other people who are moving on as well meanwhile Lois is alone while dealing with the death of her best friend and cannot relate with other

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