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Rebecca Lagares
Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1102-017
19 October 2015
The commentary I was given on the first draft of my thesis was absolutely taken into
consideration when revising for my final draft. It was easy to incorporate harmless, little
changes that made sentence structure tighter. One big change I made was taking to heart a
comment made on a biblical quote I had included, but hadnt directly quoted. It seemed to me
that if I couldnt get a direct quote to back up my argument, then I didnt want to base my
argument around that, so I actually went through and found a different quote from the bible that
supported my analysis and gave it greater credibility. I was very grateful for that commentary,
because without it I wouldnt have had as strong of an argument.
Its All Death to Me
Since ancient times, humans have told stories of creation and of destruction to make
sense of the world around them. From the tribes of Nigeria, where death is a consequence of
bringing life, to the people of Guinea who believe Death is the initial creator of all things living,
there are innumerable myths and legends all attempting to explain the mysteries of life and death
(Leeming 58). But why do we personify death this way? Why do we as human beings feel the
need to make these mysterious processes into something tangible, explainable, even something
likened to humanity itself? Research conducted by trusted scholars in the fields of psychology,
gerontology and theology will help us explore the different ways in which death is personified,
both now and in the past, and then come to conclusions on why we may give it life. Examples of
the invisible, abstract phenomenon of what death is can be seen in various works and they can

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help give a small glimpse into how we as humans cope with it, how we interact with it, and what
it can say about us.
Dating back to ancient civilizations, there are prevalent imaginings of death that shift
with each region and serve to teach us a lot about the cultures they are found in. The next few
paragraphs will briefly touch on a few examples and interpretations found in major religions and
cultures, and explain how they were representative of the thoughts on death at the time. First is
ancient Egypt, in which the act of death itself was a taboo subject. According to Samuel
Brandon, a decorated scholar of comparative religion, this way of thinking was ultimately shaped
through the legend of Osiris, who was a supposedly divine being who was killed by the most evil
of beings, Set (Brandon 35). Set is described as a creature with sharp pointed ears or horns, a
long muzzle or snout, and a tail splayed at its end (Brandon 35). Thus, death was brought to all
of human kind, and its bearer, Anubis, was given a form similar to that of the being who had
given death to the mighty Osiris. Because of this legend, the Egyptians did everything they could
to cheat death; it was seen as the most fearful of things and one which ought to be avoided if ever
possible, and these feelings of uneasiness can be easily seen in its beastly personification.
Skipping forward a little bit, the Hebrew religion has an interesting take on death. For the
most part, they strove to not take part in the mortuary cultus (death culture) before them by
giving definition to death (Brandon 33), but because death is an undeniable fact of life, they
couldnt hold out long. Due to the monotheistic nature of their beliefs, the process of death could
only ever occur at the hands of God himself. There is, however, a mention of the Angel of
Yahweh who is thought of as the angel of death, sent by God to dole out punishment as he sees
fit (Brandon 39). You can see his name scattered throughout various books of the Old Testament;
from Genesis to Judges to Exodus, he is referred to as a patron of God, or even as

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interchangeable with the Lord himself when sent to do His bidding. The angels foster role
makes a statement on their beliefs by exemplifying their stolid faith in God and their knowledge
that, even though death is an end to life and can be scary, God still watches over them.
The Greeks present a curious turn of events because they are the first case we see of a
major ancient civilization who simply accepts the fact of death as a part of life, and thus they
acknowledge mortality as an essential asset of the human time frame (Brandon 40). The Greeks
were never really concerned to explain the origin of death, nor did their theology find death a
problem relative to a mans position next to the gods, and it is for this reason that no
representation of death rooted itself in their culture (Brandon 41). The closest anything came was
Thanatos, a winged youth depicted in an illustration on one of the columns of the temple of
Artemis of Ephesus, and this image of death didnt establish itself as a predominant symbol in
Greek culture until modern times.
Lastly, early Christianity offers its own unique version of death. In a quote from the Book
of Revelation 6:8, John the Apostle writes:
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell
followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to
kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
The passage describes Death as one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, given right to kill
everything it may through plague, violence, or anything it wishes. He is seen as a very powerful
figure, who rivals God in that he has powers to take away the life which has been given by the
Lord, along with the chaos wrought by the other Horsemen, of course. What can be concluded
from Christianitys image is a healthy and profound fear of death.

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It is worth mentioning that no opinion is the overwhelming majority, and often there are
numerous different views within one culture; however, for the direction of this paper a broad
focus on various examples is sufficient to obtain a good idea of how representative a death image
can be of its peoples way of life. The parallels between religions, past cultures, and their
respective death imageries can be appreciated in their variety and their ability to accurately
embody the consciousness of the peoples who create them. From a primitive society with an
strange illness that needs to explain this devastating phenomenon to a New Age society looking
for meaning and romance in the darkest of places (ahem, vampires), humans do all of these
things so we can feel comfortable with the unknown. Amazingly, this holds true for the death
imageries of today as well. Presently there have been studies done not only searching for
meanings of death specifically, but examining a concept termed death anxiety. Death anxiety is
defined by the Online Psychology Dictionary as emotional duress or timidness stimulated by
notifications of death, inclusive of one's own thought processes and memory. There are other
concerns often closely associated with death anxiety such as Death of Self or Fear of Others
Dying (Thorson 695). Sifting through many studies done on death anxiety and the psychology of
death, Ive found that Robert Kastenbaum, a clinical psychologist from USC, provides the most
precise and representative summation of prevalent death embodiments. The results show four
main personifications of death held as the standard in todays day and age: the Gentle Comforter,
the Macabre, the Automaton, and the Gay Deceiver (Kastenbaum 156).
Each of these standards says something different about the fears and values of the person
who perceives it, most of which we cant even begin to understand. The Gentle Comforter is the
idea of a powerful force employed in a kindly way who would bring the meaning of life
(Kastenbaum 158) and this denotes a certain level of positivity towards life itself. To imagine

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that the worst thing that could happen could still have a higher meaning proves less death
anxiety, which is common among those with high self-esteem (Becker 694). The Macabre is a
repulsive or overpowering figure, which can symbolize a persons fear of being overshadowed in
life by those more powerful than them, or being forcefully taken before having completed all
they can in life (Kastenbaum 156). The Automaton is the image of death as an unfeeling,
inhuman instrument in human guise who is believed to be an emanation arising from our science
and technology (Kastenbaum 158-160). The overarching theme of this model is a fear of the
unknown, and possibly by having control over how we see death in this way do we feel capable
of handling that which we cant control in life. Lastly, the Gay Deceiver is described as a poised,
sophisticated person who lures people in with their mysterious ways and can be equated to a
typical version of the devil (Kastenbaum 160). Those who perceive death in this light often have
a fascination with the idea of death and anything associated with it. While they may not have
high anxiety, they do have a healthy respect for it and are cautious, hence the caution in being
lured in too easily by the deceiver.
There are those in the field of study who think that all of the conclusions reached, while
valid, do not support the claims that death imagery implies a deeper anxiety about different
aspects of life itself. They say that it has not been conclusively shown that death is universally
feared (Thorson 694), and that any anxiety surrounding death that creates these images can be
related back to general anxiety. Certain psychologists claim that fears related to anxiety of death
correspond in no way to what respondents indicated as important meanings of death (Thorson
693).

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In my eyes, though it may not be scientifically conclusive, it is apparent that there is more
to our creations of Death as a sentient being. Maare E. Tamm, a Swedish scholar in the field of
Psychiatry, summed my ideas up best when she asserted:
Symbol formation, such as personifications of invisible phenomena, reflect a
human tendency toward the shaping of external patterns to convey inner states
and meanings (2).
Only a few individuals have a true fear of death itself. It has been found that most people are
anxious about subjects surrounding the idea of death, such as decomposing, missing out, leaving
loved ones behind, or being a nuisance while ill (Thorson 692). Not only that, but since those
with higher self-esteem have less anxiety about death coloring their imagery, it supports the idea
that those who are more confident need less justification for the ways of the universe, while
those who are less confident search for meaning in what they cant understand.
Through all the muck of research and analysis, Ive found that there is a large variety of
pervasive death personification that say a lot about humans and our inner workings. The
psychology of why we think this way and what it says about certain types of people is very
important, because knowing this stuff gives us an insight into our own worries and beliefs as
well as help us understand others on a deeper level. No matter what, everyone will experience
this phenomena woven throughout their lives, but no one knows much about what lies behind it.
Why not? The information is right at our fingertips if we care to take a look, and all that could
come of it is a deeper understanding of the world we live in, and the people who live there with
us.

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Works Cited
Brandon, S G. F. Religion in Ancient History: Studies in Ideas, Men, and Events. New York:
Scribner, 1969. Print.
Kastenbaum, Robert, and Ruth Aisenberg. The Psychology of Death. New York: Springer Pub.
Co, 1972. Print.
Leeming, David Adams, and Margaret Adams Leeming. "Nup Creation." Oxford Reference.
2009. Oxford University Press. Date of access 16 Nov. 2015.
Tamm, ME. "Personification of Life and Death among Swedish Health Care
Professionals." Death Studies. 20.1 (1996). Print.
Thorson, James A., and F. C. Powell. "Elements of Death Anxiety and Meanings of
Death." Journal of Clinical Psychology 44.5 (1988): 691-701. Education Research
Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
God. The Bible. King James Version. Print.