Abstract

As humans we are aware of an endpoint of all our stories. Time, place, and mode are uncertain but our eventual absence from life, as we know it, is unarguable. Fundamental to our being and yet elusive, death is both a grave reality and a deep mystery. To help us manage our feelings and preserve our communities, we seek to give death shape and divine its meaning in relation to our lives. Our concern with finitude is on display in our cultural productions.