extra credit harold and maude

After watching the film I felt very diifferent. I kind of saw death as never being peaceful There were sometimes during this unit when I thought that the way people die and how they celebrate deaty can be something sad but people embrace it as a part of life and they thought that it should be something we celebrate and try to enjoy. Even though its sad. In the movie, it seemed that maude, harold, and the mother were all different. Harold was obsessed and facinated by death. Maude didn't care when people died but she would always care for other thing dying such as plants. She also was very close to living very naturally meaning she didn't waste things, she cared for animals and her body. She lived eating organic things. She hated when other things died but when people died she didn't seem to comment. They can both relate because harold and maude both have this obsession with death

Harolds mother was the one who didn't care about her son doing these things. Its like she didn't even consider death ever happening which was why she was never scared and she didn't mind that her son acted like killing himself. She only showed emotion when he messed up her bathroom. Harold's mom seemed to be naiive about death and she didn't realize it even when her son tried to make her realize it. It was as if she didn't want to accept death as a real thing which is why she ignored it.

The significance of death in the three characters is that harold and maude are surrounded by death and they understand it. Harold concentrated more on illness and dying while maude focused more on care of the dead. She cared for flowers and plants like the one in the back of the stolen truck she got. Harold focused more on ways to hurt himself and it consumed his life and his relationships with other people. The mom seemed to try and break harols vicious ways but he didn't listen which made me think that harold is trying to symbolize death as inevitable in many forms while his mom symbolized us as society trying to avoid even though it is a part of us.

The theme of the funerals in the play seemed to be very sad and depressing. It rained and was very dark out. I felt that harold and maude were the alternative to emotions. They didn't seem to be affected by death because even thoguh they were physically close to it, they weren't actually close to the people dying. They made it seem like funerals shouldn't be sad times but the people there make it sad. Maude seemed to appreciate life and the beauty while harold appreciated death. As he said, "I enjoyed being dead." Maude tries to convice harold to love life and I feel that since she is older, she has lived better and experienced more than harold. I feel that he is so obsessed with death because nobody helps him to experience life and that's where maude comes in.

This movie was more interesting than I originally thought. When harold was facing death with someone who was important to him, he feared it because he didn't want her to die. He was obsessed with death but once it came to him he automatically cried. This makes me feel like no matter how much we prepare for it we will still be unprepared for it. Its not everyday where we love someone such as harold loved maude. Once we lose that person we lose who we were. We feel that we exist onlyy lif they do. Harold felt like the only way he existed is if maude. He loved her and she died making harold all alone again as if nobody cared for him. This makes me feel like we can all talk about it but once it happens to someone close to us it changes who we are. Harold not being with maude I think made him appreciate life a bit more than in the beginning of the movie.

hw 55 culminating project.

theological perspectives vs spirits in the sky

My family believes in god. We all believe that there are spirits of dead which surround us all in every way. My grandma always says that she's gonna be watching us after she dies. She believes that our bodies will go away but who we are is embodied in our spirit. She thinks that our spirits will live on forever we just won't be visible to the living. My mother always told me stories about how she felt her dead uncle pull her leg while her and her sister slept. My aunt also told me stories about how she woke up in my old apartment to the sight of a woman in a white gown standing right above her. She told me how she didn't want to move and that the woman looked just like my dads mother. She always tells me that it was my dad's mom visiting him. All these stories freak me out but I feel that it is possible that the dead are still amongst the living. I feel that we are all a form of energy. In physics they say energy cannot be created nor destroyed. Only transferred or transformed. I feel that energy is with us when we are born. The moment we breathe. When we die that energy just comes out of us as a spirit. I really believe that after we die we go through another phase in life. Sort of like being ressurected. We may come bak as another person or another creature. I feel that it is not crazy to think this. Being ressurected is a way for us to live again without realizing that we even died. Roman catholic belief says, "The "souls of those who have died in the state of grace suffer for a time a purging that prepares them to enter heaven." Souls spend time in Purgatory until fully cleansed of
the temporal consequences of sin that were accumulated during life. (Religioustolerance.org). This is exaclty what I think. I feel like once we die we float up into the sky and we face a panel of judges who discuss where you shall spend the rest of eternity. The highest authorities in the sky will cleanse your soul and rid you of every wrong thing and then we will either be clean enough for heaven or we will be spending time in hell for terrible sins. It is scary to think this way but I feel comfortable thinking this way because it gives me a sense of security. I think religion in general gives people a sense of security in that they know that their souls will be saved and they will spend eternity in paradise. I researched catholic christians and it said that they believe in some sort of heaven and hell and they also believe in purgatory which is like a place where people spend some time if they have unconfessed sins. It is like even when we die we aren't free. There are people judging us and sending us to places. I feel that we have all lived before just as different a different energy. For example my physical being has existed before maybe millions of years ago but it was a different spirit in my body. I feel that when I die I will come back as something else. Depending on what I have done in life I may come back as a very honorable thing or not. My mother believes that snakes are the devils pet and she thinks that if we were to be ressurected and come back as a snake, it is the worst thing because snakes are slimy and they represent evil.

In my family we all feel that the dead have powers that we can only dream of. The dead have the power to insert themsleves into our dreams or into our reality. This is how we come up with the idea of ghosts and spirits. catholics believe that they are 2 different things. To be a ghost means that we are evil and ghosts are considered to be sinners and people who work with the devil. To be a spirit means to be at peace and to be a guardian to those you love the most. Spirits are gods angels while ghosts are the devils demons. Putting beliefs into the death inustry makes for people to become scared into doing good. We get scared into not sinning and living well lives because we don't want to be ghosts. My grandma thinks she will come back as a spirit to watch after us. After the death of someone in my family we always feel like to forget about them is the best thing but they have not forgotten about us. Nobody really knows the answer to what happens after death. Religion freaks may believe that we all come back as a certain thing or that we will live in paradise and have many virgins by our side. All of these stories cannot be validated but we accept them because we are afraid. We don't want to think that after we die all we see is darkness for eternity. There has to be something else in store for us. Some religions think that we will come back as something more magical and honorable. Other religions such as catholiscism believe that we will live on as spirits and and entities which cannot communicate with the living but can manipulate the living. The biggest mystery in life is what happens when we die. We hear stories of people having outer body experiences and seeing white lights. Is this true or is this something said to keep us feeling happy that life goes on. Whatever happens when we die is a big secret which cannot ever be validated because evidence is very slim and very forgeable. What we need to understand is that we all live the ways we want to and that we all have a death that awaits us but it shouldn't stop us from living, it should enoccourage us to do greater and whether we are ressurected or transformed into energy, we should appreciate what we have and death will surprise us all as we may all experience it differently depending on the individual.

hw 52 third of the book

this part of the book was the saddest part. In this final part the author spoke about how families regret the things they said and did to family members but by the time they realized it, it was too late. The story about the father and his little daughter was tough because he would always tell her things like, "its bad enough you are a girl but you don't have to be dumb too." Saying this to a 4 year old is unaccceptable. He hated the fact that he had a daughter because as a working man he wanted to get his whole family involved in working but with a girl as a child it was one less person helping. She was killed by a car and it was tough because she was so badly hurt that she was bald because surgeons had to perform surgery. It didn't work. She died and the father couldn't control himself. He went so far as to going to her grave and digging her up with his hands but he couldnt because there were too many rocks. He regrets the way he treated her and by the time he realized that she was a beautiful young girl who wanted to be loved, she was already dead. He then says, "I would do anything to get her back." This is something that happens a lot where we treat people bad until they are gone and we feel like crap for treating them the ways we did. It is true that you don't know what you have until its gone.

Reading this made me sad because I thought back to the things I said to people and the things I wish I had said. Like my neighbor who was 21 and passed away a day after new years 2011. Me and him were so different yet I looked at him like he was a big brother. We would hang out and he was scary to me at first but I realized that he was a good kid and he just grew up not knowing better. We had really cool times and he made me laugh and when he passed away I was so shocked because its like you see this person one day and the next they are laying motionless on a hospital bed. Its so surreal. The one thing I regret was not paying my final respects to him and I feel really bad because he was a really great guy who literally gave me so much wisdom and guidance in the time I was living here. He was like my guide and for him to leave I was angry. I wish I could have been at his funeral and said one last thing to him but I didn't and I feel terrible about that. I had a dream about him the other night and he looked happy he told me he was okay and I believed him. I told him what I had to say and then I woke up. I felt so weird and I felt like he was listening. I plan on making a trip to see him someday soon at his grave. Its just so sad when things like this happen because it makes me feel bad. It makes me feel like I betrayed him by not being there.

hw 51 second part of the book

this part spoke about how june nadle had a roomate named erma who soon became her very close friend. Erma got really sick especially because she had a heart murmur. Doctors had trouble giving information on and it soon became an illness that had a 50 percent chance of survival after she had done surgery. She went through with the operation and got sick once again but this time it was fatal and her friend erma died. She was to be embalmed but june couldn't do it because she was way too emotional. She found that emotions impact her and her job. She couldn't bear to see her friend dead and being embalmed so she chose not to do it and that shows how death can impact your psycological state." Death and tragedy is a reality of life but together we must face it. In order to heal and continue living our lives." This quote from the author herself shows that we all greive in many ways and we know that we will die but it becomes so surreal and threatening when it strikes out of the blue and takes someone you love. To understand death and to speak about it will make the fear factor that we all have about death lower because we will have knowledge and not be so naiive about it. As hard as it is to speak about, we all have to do it. Maybe it will help us so we live more significantly instead of just getting by in life.It was very sad reading this because its like we all have a weak spot and no matter who we are or what we do there will always be something to impact us.

hw 50 first third of the book

The first third of the book was the descprition of the authors view on death and her experiences with death. She views death in the perspective of a science and not as an emotional thing for herself. Her work consists of many death encounters with many people mainly older people, and she analyzes them and their experiences. It seems that the people vary from being satisfied or happduring their experience with death but others feel pity for the person dying.

"Thanks to lucy's foresights and good humor, her family and friends were allowed to experience how death can be so wonderfully included in the process of living.

"By talking about her passing, thinking about it, and acting on the reality of deathin her future, lucy provided her sons with coping mechanisms for what the future would assuredly bring."

"He was such a nice man with gentle ways"

Something interesting about this book was how the author makes u feel sad. She uses language that makes u feel as if u were with her doing everything. Another interesting thing was that when the first lady was spoken about and how she died it was like the author was glad for her passing and it set the book off for being a good vibe book and then we get into deaths that make one feel depressed. Its a book that I can tell is going to be like ina mays childbirth book in which its going to be a lot of stories then maybe some facts that will make me bored but for some reason I would rather read this book because it just seems so much more relevant to me and my life. I love how when I read this book I can connote ideas into my life because I have experienced deaths in my life and I try to analyze peopless emotions but it gets to the point where I can't even focus on emotions but instead I am creating my own. Now this book gives me the satisfaction of reading about what a death expert notices from more of a scientific lens.

hw 48 interviews

For my interviews I spoke to my mother and my grandmother. I found very interesting things out about what my mom believes. I asked her what she thought about respect for the dead. She said, " I respect everyones wishes especially when they are written down or said in advance. As for me I want you all to respect my wishes and i want to be put in a little moselium and I want every organ donated that can be donated." I asked her if she has put thought into the way she saw her funeral going. She said that it was important that she looks natural and as if she is sleeping and that she doesn't want to be altered to the point where she cannot be recognized. The last question I asked her was if she thinks that caring for the dead and respecting their wishes is important in being satisfied living. Basically she said," I think its important that we respect what the dead want because it makes me happy knowing that they are happy even in spirit."

The next person I spoke to was my grandma and for this I told my little cousin the questions to ask her since I felt a bit weird talking about it with her. One question was if she wants to be cremated or anything special and she said, "no as long as you guys come visit me and take care of my grave I will be happy." I also asked her if she thought it was okay to disrespect what the dead wish for. She said, " yes that is something you don't want to do because a spirit is much more stronger than a living being and to upset them may not be ok." How has seeing dead family changed your views on caring for yourself?. " well seeing my sister in the coffin really hurt me and I knew that all I could do was brush her hair and cry. It made me think and not stress life because the soul will live on so caring for me when I pass away will ensure that I have a happy transition of worlds."

COMMENT ON THIS HOMEWORK TEAM! hw 47 peer perspectives on care of the dead

For this homework I decided to interview a few very close people to me. I interviewed my friend who I have known all my life. My college friend who I speak to very often. Then I spoke to my middle school friend. For the first interview I spoke to my long time friend who have a very existential mind set. I asked him what does he think about the idea that what we do know won't matter once we die. He said that he understands that which is why he loves to do what he does. He lives with few rules because he believes that to like well one must have a very small concious but still need to be smart. Another question I asked was if he and his family have any special rituals for the people who pass away in his family? He said, "no we just have the standard funeral and that's it, but I don't really go to a lot of funerals cuz I don't have so much family here." What do you think about caring for the dead? Do you think its important to treat the dead as if they were still here? " I don't know cuz that pretty scary. Once a person in my family dies then its pretty simple from there on we usually forget to see them or clean their resting place or even say their name. The memories kinda fade."

The next person I interviewed was a female college friend who I haven't known for that long. She felt weird that I asked her these questions but it was cool. I asked her if she thought that treating the dead well was important. She said, " I don't think it is because treating the live is better and more important. Once someone dies I'm not saying that we have to disrespect them I'm saying that maybe we shoudnt dwell on them for so long. Life is about survival and we are all like little bugs and once one dies we keep going so nothing really stops us from living." Have you had any special things you have done for the dead in ur family? "I don't know if we have. I mean we creamated before but is that special? We have also sent someone back to the country they were born at to make it more sentimental and it was more emotional because the person was back home so it felt like he really was just on vacation.

The last person I interviewed was my middle school friend who I have spoke to multiple times in the past for class. He's very afraid when it comes to emotional topics such as this. So what do you think about caring for the dead? Do you think its important that the family sees and touches the body after death? " I have never done that. If I go to a funeral I just sit mad far away. I hate seein people like that cuz its like a week ago they were still alive. Its hard to go up there and see the person because they look different and they feel like they are fake and they say nothing so its weird. I think it is important to respect the dead in every way we can though." Is there any tradition your family has that shows respect for the dead. " well we usually all get together and just sit in our house kind of silent but then someone pulls out a picture or we just all talk about the person who died and then it becomes a memory thing and we relive the memories of the person so we feel like they are still with us."

I looked at the answers and I found something worth quoting in the first interview. I saw that my friend saied that in order to live a meaningful good life we must lower our concious. That was very interesting because living with a lower conscious may mean that we die happier. I feel like this was very important and that it can depict the way we treat the dead. We may either respect them for the way they lived or we may not becuaw we may feel that the way they lived wasn't up to par with everyone else. This topic is very tough because most of my friends did not expect this to be asked and most people don't think about this.