People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

M’Hamed Bougara University –Boumerdes

Faculty of Sciences

Department of Foreign Languages and Literature

Division of English

Personification of Death in Joanne K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Statement of Purpose submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master’s Degree in Anglophone Literatures and Civilizations

Submitted by: Mohamed HADDOUCHE

Supervised by: Mrs. HADDOUCHE

Panel of examiners :
Supervisor: 
President :
Academic Year: 2019/2020
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Introduction

It is believed that humans live in a world full of good and evil, light and darkness, joy

and tears. In a world that is divided into two parts; the physical and the metaphysical; the

physical kind is what is seen clearly and experienced with the five senses of the body.

However, the metaphysical part is the unseen world, all that is abstract and goes beyond the

physical limits. Literature gives the sighted the possibility to gain insight. One of its major

roles is to serve meaningful and visionary aspects. For instance, it has both the ability and

space to depict concepts such as death, happiness and sorrow through providing them human

features. "Many of us imagine death will be like drifting to sleep. Your head gets heavy. Your

eyes flutter and gently close. A final breath and then… lights out. It sounds perversely

pleasant. Too bad it may not be that quick." (Dickinson).

Jacobson explains:

Death: The very word strikes fear in people’s hearts. They consider death as

unfathomable as it is inevitable. They are barely able to talk about it, to peer

beyond the word itself and allow themselves to contemplate its true

implications. This is an understandable reaction, given the fact that so many

people think of life as nothing more than a state in which the human body is

biologically active. But it is time to ask ourselves: What happens after death, if

anything? What does death really mean? How should the surviving loved ones

react?.
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Furthermore, some say it is the end of everything without coming back, and some

others think that is a form of rebirth and the beginning of the real eternal life. Besides, in

many literary works death is personified. "Kastenbaum and Costa (1977) pointed out that

death has been personified in art, literature, and mythology" (Basset, McCann, and Cate 164).

In other words, death has the characteristics of human beings, it can watch, sense, talk and act.

Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a famous British author and film producer. The world

knows her by her Fantasy series Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

(2001), The Casual Vacancy (2012), Career of Evil (2015), The Silkworm (2014) and the list

is long. Therefore, this research proposal will tackle The Tales of Beedle the Bard published

on December 13, 2007. It is a mixture of genres mixing Anthology, Fantasy Fiction and

Children’s Literature in one book composed of five entire stories or tales. Rowling indeed is

known by her gentle attitudes towards children in a point that her selling funds go for charity

plans and aids. For instance, this book seems to be childish or addressed to children.

However, its content and context say the opposite knowing that it includes not just mere

magic in its fairy tales, but complex matters of life even the adult ones cannot decipher easily.

In this study, the chosen theme is Personification of Death seeing the fact that it draws

a lot of scepticism and dispute around it, especially in the fifth story entitled "The Tale of the

Three Brothers" which depicts entirely Rowling’s style in personifying death.

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Review of Related Literature

Many critics tackled the theme of Personification of Death differently and shed light to

it as Jennifer C. McElroy in her thesis "Interpreting Death in Paradise Lost". In this context,

McElroy’s understanding of John Milton’s poem Paradise Lost is logical and clear. In other

words, she thinks that Milton somehow wanted to personify a shapeless death in his poem, or

giving an abstract thing a personality as she claims:

If personification is a tool to elucidate an abstraction and give it body, then

comparing Despaire's starving body to Death's insubstantial one shows that

there is a problem in using allegory to represent an idea like death. This is a

problem, it seems, that Milton raises deliberately through the choice to use

personification (or something that looks like personification) while

simultaneously reporting that Death has no form. Death' s lack of body

confounds allegoresis -- how can nothing represent anything? Or vice versa,

how can nothing be represented by anything? The trouble with representing

Death becomes the trouble with coming up with a figure for nothing, like a

zero: is it nothing, or is it something? (10-11).

McElroy wants to clarify John Milton’s vision of death in the way he describes it as

being nobody but acts like somebody.

Unlike McElroy’s point of view which states that death is faceless and lacks a body,

Emma Nilsson’s thesis "Bringing Death to Life": The Personifications of Death in Zusak’s

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The Book Thief, Moore’s A Dirty Job and Pendle’s Death: A Life. Nilsson thinks that death

has a body and a physical appearance. In other words, she points out that death does not have

to be fearful and scary as she quotes:

I do not carry a sickle or scythe. I only wear a hooded black robe when it’s

cold. And I don’t have those skull-like facial features you seem to enjoy

pinning on me from a distance. You want to know what I truly look like? I’ll

help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue. (Zusak 329)

Nilsson analysis of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is that death is humani.zed in his

book, but without stating a gender to death. The only clear thing is that it chases both sexes

the male or the female, old or young, sick or healthy.

Oppositely to McElroy and Nilsson’s point of views, the German writer Karl S.

Guthke in his book The Gender of Death: "A Cultural History in Art and Literature" gives a

gender in his personification of death as he claims, "In some cultures – Spanish , French , and

Polish , for example – art , literature , and conventional thought almost regularly personify

death as a woman : beautiful or ugly , old or young motherly , seductive , or dangerous." (7).

In this context, he portrays death as being a woman whatever her appearances or attitudes.

Considering the previous critics about the theme of personification of death many

interrogation marks are present: is it truly the end of everything after the burial of a person,

and how can we know?. Is it true that time is not linear but circular and there is a life after
 HADDOUCHE 5

death? how can death as the abstract thing act like a human being? can death die and when

will it die? What is the gender of death and who is the Grim Reaper?. For instance, how can

Rowling the well known with her children books personify death in The Tales of Beedle the

Bard?. Probably, she wants to send an undirect message to her readers the young and the

adult ones. Does she want to say that death is shaped by the acts we do in our lifetime?. From

those perspectives, death has the characteristics of a human being. It is not just an abstract

idea, and the fact that it cannot be seen does not make it a "zero" because it has a major

influence in the pursuit and the continuity of life.

The above-mentioned studies on Personification of Death highlight different issues

about death and its effects on society. This last is illustrated as being a "zero" which means it

is Metaphysical and beyond the human sight but it does exist. In the second study, death is

humanized. But, it is not a man nor a woman. Contrarily to the previous studies, in the third

and last study research death has a gender.

Method

This study will depend on some theoretical approaches, and a set of concepts to study

and interpret the Personification of Death in Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It

employs the Hawthorne Effect as a first theory. "The effect was first described in the 1950s

by researcher Henry A. Landsberger during his analysis of experiments conducted during the

1920s and 1930s." (Cherry). According to The Association for Qualitative Research, "The

Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect or viewing effect) is where
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individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of

being observed.". In this context, human nature is built upon fear because of the feeling of

being observed and watched all the time. So, he is always careful in his acts and even in his

thoughts for some cultures. The believers fear fate and the non-believers fear karma. More

importantly, death is also applied in this context in which it is the all-time observer of all

humans no matter their situation asleep or awake.

This research will tackle Social Darwinism theory and the concept of Survival of the

Fittest; the strongest who walks away from death will be death itself; because he gave it to the

weakest ones who could not resist socially. In this context, death is a human feature that needs

to happen which leads to another kind of personification of death.

The Final Destination theory and the concept of Fate presented in Final Destination

movie series will also reinforce this work. Due to its explanations of death; the more you

postpone it, the more you will believe in it; which means it will come whatever it takes no

matter the time, place and atmosphere. And the act of "coming" is a human characteristic.

Hypothesis 

The research questions and the hypothesis of this study will depend on those following

disputes: What is the relation between Metaphysics, Fiction and Death?, what makes of Death

a dominant aspect in Literature?, how can Death be like a person?, what is the link between

Death, Social Darwinism and Survival of the Fittest?. How can death be an observant of

human beings? and finally, what is fate and what makes of death the servant of it?.
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The structure of the thesis

This study will be divided into two main chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter

will be entitled "Death and the Concept of Metaphysics and Fiction" that would be divided

into two sections. The first section will discuss the Metaphysical Realm and its Philosophy

towards Literature and will focus on the following concepts: Metaphysics, Literature, and The

Influence of the Metaphysical Philosophy on Literature. The second section will deal with

Death as a Dominant Metaphysical Aspect in Literature discussing: The Meaning of Death,

Death according to Ancient Civilizations, and The Domination of Death in Literature.

The second chapter will be called "Personification of Death in Joanne K. Rowling’s

The Tales of Beedle the Bard" and will be separated into four sections: Rowling’s

Personification of Death as a first part explaining the concept of Personification of death, its

history and death personified in Rowling’s book. The second part consists of Death as a

Supervising Concept and will discuss the link between Death, Personification of Death and

their relation with: The Hawthorne Effect, Social Darwinism and Survival of the Fittest as a

third section, Final Destination and the concept of Fate which is the fourth section.

The conclusion will summarize the findings of this study. It highlights Rowling’s way

of personifying Death in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It will point out the main

characteristics of Rowling’s success in the making of death a person.

I. Chapter One: Death and the Concept of Metaphysics and Fiction :

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Death is one of the major topics discussed by human beings regardless of their cultures

and differences adult or young, rich or poor, healthy or sick. They are all wondering fearfully

about this inevitable rule of life. It is obvious, no ordinary man came back from the dead to

describe what does dying look like, or how the process of passing away manifests. In other

words, death is beyond physicality and this makes it a matter of philosophy or metaphysics

more accurately, fiction, literature and all sorts of. art.

The fact that death is not physical, starts another kind of challenge for the

metaphysicians to ask questions and create theories about this phenomenon. This last can also

be interpreted in a fictional way using imagination in a world of fantasy. This loss of life is

dominant in literature in many ways. For example, it can be personified in a human form like

the case of Joanne Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, painters, musicians or any kind of

artist as well can portray death creatively according to his domain and his understanding of

life.

This first chapter will be a set of general ideas and will be divided into two sections.

The first section will focus on the metaphysical philosophy and its influence on literature,

explaining metaphysics, literature and the metaphysical touch in literary works. The second

section will focus on death as a metaphysical issue dominating literature, mentioning death in

general, its significance according to ancient civilizations and the fundamental role of death in

literature.

1. The Metaphysical Realm and its Philosophy towards Literature :

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A. Metaphysics :

Metaphysics comes from the Greek term "metaphysika" which means "after physics".

In other words, all that is above or beyond the physical form. Metaphysics is the department of

philosophy that deals with "the nature of existence, being and the world.". Possibly, it is the

basis of philosophy as Aristotle describes it "first philosophy" and "wisdom", he also calls it

the topic that is concerned with "first causes and the principles of things". Its major questions

are: "What is the nature of reality?", "How does the world exist, and what is its origin or

source of creation?", "Does the world exist outside the mind?". This last also asks how a

bodiless mind may affect a concrete creation which is the body. Metaphysics questions the

existence of God, and if there is a maker to this world why only one and not multiple gods?

(Mastin).

Metaphysics is not just a simple term, it is a philosophical section that is vast. In this

context, Aristotle splits “metaphysika” into three different branches :

A.1. Ontology:

This Greek term is the philosophical division which studies the essence of reality and it

mainly asks the kind of questions: what is it? how many "realities" are there, and what are the

properties of those realities (Austin, Ontology).

A.2. Theology:
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Theology is the study of divinities questioning what is a god? does he truly exist and

what does he want?. Theology differs from one religion to another regarding people’s

traditions and beliefs. In the other hand, atheists disagree with this study claiming that its

topics are nothing but real. From another perspective, God does not exist for them (Austin,

Theology).

A.3. Universal Science:

It is Aristotle’s third main branch of metaphysics, it includes the study of "first

principles" or the root of the universe and the basics of logic and reasoning. For the believers,

the answer to those lasts is always "god" claiming that he created everything. Although, it

differs from one believer to another. However, Atheists have a different point of view that

opposes the category of believers seeing the fact that they do not approve the existence of god

(Austin, Universal Science).

B. Literature:

Uncountable amount of books are printed and published every year, joining the wide

world of libraries which exist for centuries. Salman Rushdie says, "Literature is where I go to

explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope

to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart.". From

this perspective, there is more than one precise definition of literature yet, there are millions of

definitions of it that agree and disagree with one another, every reader or writer sees a literary
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work in a different way than the other and criticizes its beginning, plot and ending according

to his personal life and literary experiences. As claimed by Rushdie, creative writings or

literature generally, is a journey in the social life that is full of ups and downs, joy and tears,

an adventure in the spirit of the human being where he seeks for a truthful story that relieves

the heart and spreads his imagination, and not for a perfect reality. Literature indeed is not

perfection but the satisfaction of both the author and the reader.

Figures of speech are one of the major tools used in literature, the one that is written in

English more precisely.

B.1 Figures of Speech:

According to Richard Nordquist, “A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that

achieves a special effect by using words in a distinctive way.”. Meaning it is a literary

technique that obtains an impact that is specific depending on particular words.

These literary tools are generally related to literature and poetry especially and people

often use them in daily life whether consciously or unconsciously in speaking and writing. In

this context, there are many figures of speech in the English language. However, twenty of

them are most used and famous: Alliteration, Anaphora, Antithesis, Apostrophe, Assonance,

Chiasmus, Euphemism, Hyperbole, Irony, Litotes, Metaphor, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia,

Oxymoron, Paradox, Personification, Pun, Simile, Synecdoche, and finally Understatement

(Nordquist, Top 20 Figures of Speech).

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B.2 Simile, Metaphor and Personification:

Due to the numerous kinds of figures of speech, these lasts are almost identical. The

most confusing ones are simile, metaphor and personification.

B.2.1 Simile:

It is a straight comparison between two different things that are alike in at least one

side, with the use of the word “as” or “like” (Lamoreux, Simile). For example, when saying

“Mohamed Ali fights like a beast” or “Mohamed Ali is strong as a lion”, there is a simile

between “Mohamed Ali” who is human along with “beast” and “lion” which are not human.

However, they share the same abilities which are fighting and being strong.

B.2.2 Metaphor:

A metaphor is a literary technique that resembles simile. However, metaphors declare

that an idea or object is somehow the same as another different thing (Lamoreux, Metaphor).

In other words, they are similar to similes but, without using the conjunctions “as” and “like”.

For instance, “Mohamed Ali is a real beast.”. “Mohamed Ali” here is compared to a “beast”

metaphorically.

B.2.3 Personification:

Personification, also called “anthropomorphism” is a figure of speech, in which an

inhuman thing is given human characteristics (Lamoreux, Personification). Walter Melion and
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Bart Ramakers explain, “Personification, or prosopopoeia, the rhetorical figure by which

something not human is given a human identity or ‘face’” (1). In other words, Personification,

or “Prosopopoeia” in Greek, is a figurative language in which a creature that is not human

owns human personalities and faces.

Charles Marlow, the narrator of Heart of Darkness describes, “Flames glided in the

river, small green flames, red flames, white flames” (Conrad 10). Speaking in a literal way the

“flames” cannot glide because to glide is a human skill. However, figuratively speaking this

expression is a personification of flames, that helps the reader feel the story and its

atmosphere.

C. The Influence of the Metaphysical Philosophy on Literature:

There are a lot of common topics discussed by both metaphysics and literature, those

lasts go hand in hand and they complete each other. Many literary works are inspired by the

metaphysical rules. Accordingly to Simone De Beauvoir as she says:

We must understand the relation between metaphysics and the novel in an

analogous manner, since metaphysics is not a philosophical system, but rather

an experience of the world that can be elucidated through philosophy as well as

though literature. (Bogaerts 22)

In other words, Beauvoir insists on comprehending the link between metaphysics and

literary works in a similar way because what is metaphysical is not just a philosophy, but a
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life’s experience that is explained by both philosophy and literature. That is how literature

completes metaphysics and vice versa.

Most of the literary theories and terms are extracted from philosophy and metaphysics

more specifically. For instance, literature is often explained by metaphysics and most of the

authors and critics have a philosophical point of view which lead to a metaphysical way of

thinking.

2. Death as a dominant Metaphysical aspect in Literature:

A. The Meaning of Death:

When a person owns something, the first question that comes to his mind is how long it

will last. The same thing happens concerning death since every sane human being always asks

and wonders when my life will be put to an end and what is death itself. Zygmunt Bauman

says:

While death is the most trustworthy experience in human life, death still

remains inexplicable and unknown. People therefore need to encounter the

death experience in other ways, such as by watching and following the death of

others, as well as with the help of fiction, imagining how it will feel. (Hakola

and Kivistö 7)

Bauman wants to clarify that death is somehow a reliable and trusted experience in

one’s life, but it will remain as an interrogation mark knowing that it has no explanation. For
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that reason, humans observe the death of others and try to feel their situation with the help of

fiction to face this inevitable rule of life.

The only truth about death is its existence, but no one can describe it since he is still

alive. However, humans may feel this unexpected phenomenon through analyzing the death of

others with the help of fiction and old beliefs to try solving this metaphysical question of what

does it look like when someone passes away and what happens to him after?.

B. Death according to Ancient Civilizations:

The understanding of death, funerals, mourning and grief differs from civilization to

one another depending on their ancestors and rulers’ vision of death, and how the dead person

and his relatives should be treated, as a method to achieve what is called the pursuit and the

continuity of life.

B.1 Egypt:

Ancient Egypt mummies and pyramids are related to death. At that time, Egyptians

considered that the “Ka” or the corpse the defunct man could enjoy the afterlife, it could eat,

drink and smell just like a vivid human being. However, the “Ba” which is the soul was not

able to live after death without its physical body or the “Ka”. For this reason, they used the

mummification process to preserve their dead in a good shape as a preparation for their

afterlife (“Death in Ancient Civilisations” Egypt).

B.2 Ancient Mesopotamia:

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Ancient Mesopotamia or Iraq nowadays existed around the same period of Pharaohs of

Egypt. However, they had a different understanding of death. Mesopotamians instead feared

this phenomenon, they believed that evil spirits could flee from their tombs and get in the

bodies of the living ones through their ears to ruin the world and bring sorrow and fear to it.

Furthermore, they thought that if the corpse is not given the right burial, the dead will be

resurrected to haunt those who are still alive, that is why they gave their enemies proper

burials to prevent them from coming back to life to get their revenge (“Death in Ancient

Civilisations” Ancient Mesopotamia).

B.3 Ancient Greece and Rome :

Ancient Greece and Rome treated death the same way. Since early Romans followed

the same cultural path as Greeks who explained gods through mythology, both of them

believed in the afterlife and considered the same god of the underworld; “Hades” in Greek and

“Pluto” in Roman; and a right burial was fundamental to both Greeks and Romans, who

thought that if the living did not give the proper funeral to the dead, they could rise and walk

again as ghosts to haunt them in the name of retaliation (“Death in Ancient Civilisations”

Ancient Greece and Rome).

B.4 Ancient China:

The ancient Chinese thought that death was just an extending of life, they believed that

the spiritual life is way longer than the ordinary life itself. In other words, they approved
 HADDOUCHE 17

afterlife, the people thought that spirits of the dead influenced earth and if the living refused to

take care of their tombs, they would be revived to cause damage to the people as an act of

vengeance. For this reason, those who were still alive had duties for their dead ancestors by

making sacrifices and rituals to praise them and to preserve the bloodline, and mainly to avoid

the disaster of the resurrection (“Death in Ancient Civilisations” Ancient China).

C. The Domination of Death in Literature:

The previous sections treated the concept of literature and death separately. However,

death has a huge influence and dominance on literature. Jennifer Gariepy says:

0Among the most frequently treated subjects in literature, death—present as a

theme, symbol, or plot device—exists as one of the defining elements in the

writing of modern poets, dramatists, and novelists. Intertwined with the origins

of literature itself, human consciousness of mortality has for centuries provided

the impetus for reflection on the causes, meaning, and nature of existence. And,

while treatments of death are as varied as the authors who write them, scholars

have perceived in modern texts—whether for the stage, in verse, or in

prose fiction—certain clearly defined approaches to this topic of nearly

universal interest.

From this last, it is obvious that one of the main discussed topics in literature is death

as it can be presented as a theme, symbol and a plot. Its appearance is common in modern
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poems, drama and novels in general. Death has a link with the roots of literature and its

foundation. Mortality besides is connected to the human consciousness which leads to

questions of cause, meaning and nature of existence. Furthermore, death in literature is vast

due to the numerous existing writers who include it in their works.

Death is always present in books and literary works, it can appear at the beginning of

the story, in the middle or at the end. Besides, it can appear in every part of the story all at

once or even as a character in the plot which leads to the personification of death, Rowling’s

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a clear example of that.

II. Chapter Two: Personification of Death in Joanne K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the

Bard:

A personification is an animal, object or abstract, (such as destiny or death,)

which is given qualities or abilities only human beings can have. As a

personification, death is portrayed as a person with human characteristics. The

anthropomorphic features of death are represented in the physical appearance of

death, for example a human skeleton, performing human activities. Death can

be given a gender, clothing, personality and voice. (Vardal 6)

In this context, the term “personification” is when a non-human being has the

characteristics of human beings. Death as an example with a “skeleton” shape can do human

actions, has a gender, outfit, identity and can talk just like humans.
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It is mentioned in the previous chapter that literature’s most discussed topic is death, it

is showing up primarily in books and stories and all types of literary works. Death can be

present as a character in the narrative. More precisely, it is personified and has human skills,

abilities and attitudes. In addition to that, this character has a great influence on the story and

its progress, as it holds a human position in the tale.

This chapter will be split into four main sections. Rowling’s Personification of Death

as a first section discussing how death can be personified in general, the personification of

death according to ancient civilizations, and the method Rowling uses to personify death in

The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Death as a Supervising Concept which is the second section

explains The Hawthorne Effect, its relation with death and the personification of it. Social

Darwinism and the Concept of Death comes next as a third section discussing the notion of

Survival of Fittest and death personified. The fourth and last section will deal with Death as a

Final Destination explaining this idea and the concept of fate in according to Final Destination

horror movies and their relation with Rowling’s personification of death.

1. Rowling’s Personification of Death:

A. The personification of Death:

Throughout the centuries, people have tried to embody what is called death by granting

it a human shape. In other words, it is the process of transforming an unseen phenomenon into

visibility, to create a death personification (“Personification of Death” Introduction). Kerry

Gray thinks that:

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Throughout literature, death is personified in many ways. One of the most

typical portrayals of death personified is the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper is

typically cloaked in black, carries a scythe, and shows up only to take a person

to their death. Some form of the Grim Reaper has been around since the days of

Greek mythology. (“Personification of Death” The Grim Reaper).

Kerry Gray’s point of view is that death is given human characteristics in several ways.

In this context, the Grim Reaper is the most famous literary personification of death and his

first appearance is present in the Greek mythology period. Gray describes him as being black,

holding a scythe and his only task is death.

B. The History of Death Personifications:

Life and death were seen as double forces of the Great Mother in the old world. Life is

the Good Mother while death is the Evil Mother (“Personification of Death” Death

Personifications in History).

Oppositely, death in Ancient Greece is not represented by a woman but a male god of

death, born from the “Union of the Night” and known as “Thanatos” or “Thanatus” as a Latin

translation, “Mors” or “Letum” according to Ancient Romans. He lived in the underworld

taking orders from “Hades” god of the underworld. “Thanatos” is the god and personification

of peaceful death offering persons an eternal rest from the sufferings of the world by giving

them a .painless death by merely touching them. Contrarily to his siblings, who were
 HADDOUCHE 21

merciless: “Keres” who represented the spirits of violent death, “Nemesis” goddess of

retribution and punishment, “Apate” spirit of deception and trickery, “Oizys” goddess of

misery and depression, “Moros” the personified spirit of doom, and finally “Momos” who is

the god of blame and mockery. He is depicted with huge black wings, wearing a long dark

outfit, he often carries a sword or a large sickle sword (Mythology - Folklore A-Z). (see fig.1).

Nikolaj. Winged Thanatos Game Smite. Desktop Wallpaper. 27 Oct. 2016…………….

07.07.2020

According to Mayan mythology, “Ah Puch” is the god of death, darkness and disaster,

another kind of personification of death portrayed in a form of a skeleton, or a scary puffy

 HADDOUCHE 22

form. This last ruled the most feared area “Xibalba” which is underneath the surface. He was

famous for his merciless ways of torment and massacre (Williams). (see fig.2).

https://espressocomsaudade.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/honest-mythmayan-ah-puchkisin/

As stated in the Book of Revelation in the Bible, According to Christian apocalyptic

tenets, death is one of the four-horse riders who will declare the day of judgment according to

the Christian apocalyptic tenets. This horseman is called “The Grim Reaper”, described as

being a scary-looking ghost in a form of man, also depicted in a form of skeleton carrying a

scythe than can cut off human heads in a single sway. The “The Grim Reaper” in fact is

possibly the most famous personification of death in all the times (“Death Personified” The

Grim Reaper). (see fig.3).

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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/357191814173387544/

In Japanese mythology, death is personified by a creature called “Shinigami” composed of

two terms “Shi” meaning death, and “Kami” which is god or spirit. His role is to summon humans to

the world of the dead, which seems peaceful compared to the Grim Reaper’s cruelty. According to

Japanese, there is more than one “Shinigami” and every one of them differs in terms of appearance
 HADDOUCHE 24

(Geller). Nowadays, the Japanese gods of death are represented in television series. For

example, in the famous Japanese manga and anime Death Note, the character “Ryuk” is a

Shinigami in the story. (see fig.4).

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/725783296183610572/
 HADDOUCHE 25

In the Mexican folklore, the personification of death is presented by a woman

contrarily to the previous mythologies and beliefs. “Santa Muerte” is the female form of death

for Mexicans who consider her the Lady of Holy Death. She is illustrated in a skeleton

feminine look, dressed like a lady, wearing flowers, jewellery and holding a scythe just like

the Grim Reaper (“Death Personified” Santa Muerte). (see fig.5).

https://www.pinterest.it/pin/28288303889945846/

C. Death personified in Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard:

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The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of five imaginary stories written by Joanne

Rowling, originally published on December 13th, 2007. Taken from the wizarding world of

Harry Potter. These fairy tales present a mixture of different themes and atmospheres in a

single book. Its chapters are presented separately treating different short stories: “The Wizard

and the Hopping Pot”, “The Fountain of Fair Fortune”, “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”,

“Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump” and finally “The Tales of the Three Brothers”. It

is believed that magic is always referred to as evil and darkness but, Rowling changes this

stereotype by relating wizarding into goodness and light.

Death is personified in Rowling’s book especially in “The Tale of the Three Brothers”

which is Beedle’s fifth tale, it is about three brothers travelling in a twilight period. In their

journey they stopped at a profound, dangerous river which is hard to cross by swimming but,

thanks to their wizarding skills, they built a magical bridge and manage to pass through the

river. However, when they reached the centre of the bridge, death appeared to them in a form

of a hooded strange person, full of anger and the feeling of being cheated seeing the fact that,

the previous travellers generally fail to cross the river and end up dead. After that, death

pretended to congratulate them for their success by offering them awards by their choice. The

oldest brother, who is a combatant demanded a magical wand than can defeat any other

opponent. The second brother, who is haughty wanted to disgrace death by asking for the

ability to resurrect dead persons. The third and youngest one, who is modest and smart
 HADDOUCHE 27

compared to his other brothers, distrusted death and requested a cloak of invisibility to not be

followed by death for the rest of his life.

Death let the three brothers continue their path. However, they decided to go separate

ways and live different lives. The eldest brother became invincible against other magicians

with the help of death’s wand, the second one brought back to life the girl he loved in the past,

and the youngest brother lived many years without being detected by death using the cloak of

invisibility yet, death kept following the three brothers to curse them one by one. The first

brother ends up dead by night killed by a wizard thief who stole his wand. The second one

committed suicide because the girl he resurrected acted weird and could not support the land

of the living. As for the youngest brother, he finally made a mistake giving his son the cloak

that was protecting him and death came to collect his last victim after a long search.

Death is noticeably personified in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, more specifically in the

last or the fifth story “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. Rowling refers to death as a hooded

figure just like a person when she narrates, “They were halfway across it when they found

their path blocked by a hooded figure.” (89). She adds, “And Death spoke to them. He was

angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims”. (89). In this context, death is

referred to as “He”, can speak and feel anger as a human being. There is also a personification

when she states, “But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers

upon their magic”. (89), meaning that death has the human abilities to be smart and “cunning”

seeing the fact that it can pretend. Besides, Rowling says’ “So Death picked up a stone from
 HADDOUCHE 28

the riverbank and gave it to the second brother”. (90), and that gives death other human

characteristics when saying “Death picked up” and “gave it”. This tale indeed is almost all

about death having human skills and abilities or the personification of death in other words.

2. Death as a supervising concept:

A. .The Hawthorne Effect:

.The Hawthorne effect was explained for the first time in the 1950s by a researcher

called. Henry A. Landsberger, during the analysis of experiments that occurred in the 1920s

and 1930s. The term “Hawthorne” comes from the place on where the experiments happened;

Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works electric company; in the state of Illinois in America

(Cherry).

Kendra Cherry explains:

The Hawthorne effect is a term referring to the tendency of some people to

work harder and perform better when they are participants in an experiment.

The term is often used to suggest that individuals may change their behavior

due to the attention they are receiving from researchers.

Cherry means the effect is the fact that individuals resort to work seriously and bring

better results when they are included in an experiment. They also tend to modify their attitude

because of the presence of their observers. In addition to that, “The Hawthorne Effect refers to

the fact that people will modify their behavior simply because they are being observed.”
 HADDOUCHE 29

(Kenton). Meaning that a person performs better and changes his actions when he gets the

feeling that he is being watched or supervised by his superiors. In this context, death or the

personification of can be related to the Hawthorne Effect due to fact that it is always watching

every vivid creature including human beings.

B. Death as a Hawthorne Phenomenon:

The majority of people live an insecure life full of obligations and doubts, they always

wonder and fear what is coming next, when, where and how their lives will be put to an end.

Religion, society, traditions, family, gender will make what is called free will still exist but in

a reduced form because, of the previously mentioned conditions and especially the death that

is always watching human beings from their birthday.

For this matter, death or the personification of it can be applied as a Hawthorne Effect,

death takes place as a supervisor who always tests and watches people who take the position

of workers. In this context, people will always have the fearful feeling of being watched all the

time by a phenomenon called death without a blink of an eye and they will change their

attitudes and actions avoiding mistakes that will cost them their lives. In other words,

wherever they will go death is always searching for them. In other words, the Hawthorne

Effect is that people are observed on an intrinsic behavioural lane, thus the personification of

death is all about death observing characters that makes them feel of being watched all the

time with an attitude of fear. Taking the example of Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard

when she narrates, “But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was
 HADDOUCHE 30

never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother

finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son.” (92-93), meaning that death is

always pursuing humans to find the right time to reach the wanted person. The third brother in

“The Tale of the Three Brother” is smarter than his brothers demanding and using an invisible

cloak to hide and become immortal, the personified death in this story did not give up on

tracking him even if the man is protected and unseen. However, death is smarter enough

taking the chance to take him when he offered the cloak to his son, after years of failing to

locate his place, death finally found the smart brother to end his life. There is a personification

in this tale giving death human abilities; being smart and patient; besides, in this case, death

has the Hawthorne Effect characteristics through being watchful and alerted all the time.

3. Social Darwinism and the Concept of Death:

A. Survival of the Fittest:

According to History.com:

Social Darwinism is a loose set of ideologies that emerged in the late

1800s in which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural

selection was used to justify certain political, social, or economic

views. Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea

that certain people become powerful in society because they are

innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism,

 HADDOUCHE 31

racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past

century and a half. (“Social Darwinism” Introduction).

Meaning that Social Darwinism is a collection of ideologies featured in the

later years of the 1800s. Darwin’s Evolution theory which states that nature is

responsible for the selection of creatures’ value and position. This last was used in

politics, economics and social views. Social Darwinist thinkers follow “Survival of

the Fittest” rule that classifies the power of an individual according to his

inheritance. In other words, some individuals are born to be powerful. This set of

ideologies is also used as an excuse for Imperialism, Racism, Eugenies; improving

the human race; and finally social classes.

Survival of the Fittest is a term mentioned by the British naturalist Charles Darwin in

the fifth edition of his famous book On the Origin of Species published in 1869. In which he

proposes that vivid creatures who can adapt to their surroundings are the luckiest ones in the

war of survival and reproduction, life in other words. Darwin brought the term “Survival of the

Fittest” from an English philosopher and sociologist called Herbert Spencer, who put it in his

book Principles of Biology published in 1864 (Cunningham). As it is mentioned before

“Survival of the Fittest” can be applied to every vivid creature including humans. In

this matter, David Prayers explains:

The blind fish have lost genes needed to make eye tissues. Not having a

vulnerable outer eye is an advantage. Normal fish would run into rocks causing
 HADDOUCHE 32

bleeding in the damaged eye and possible death. The blind fish can run into

rocks without damage to the eye tissue because the outer vulnerable eye tissue

is no longer there. The blind fish are most fit to live in the environment of total

darkness

This example shows how some animals or fishes are more adaptive and fit to survive

than others. The blind fish indeed has the priority to live in dark environments through

skipping rocks without dying or hurting its eyes because it cannot see. However, the ordinary

kind of fish will harm its eye tissue simply because it sees in a normal way. The blind fish in a

matter of fact is the fittest and the strongest one to live in dark and rocky spots of water.

It is mentioned previously that ‘Survival of the Fittest’ can also be applied to human

beings. In the past, individuals who are physically strong and powerful are more fit to survive

following the law of the jungle ideology. But in the current time, those who are more

intelligent, rich and even handsome are more fit to survive than the others. However, the term

‘survival’ means something else because nowadays, this means that there is a difference

between ‘to survive’ and ‘to live’. In other words, those who can live are the ones who are

superior and special by inheritance or the ones who managed to make a great fortune, while

the rest who are socially neglected; born poor and not powerful; are just surviving and

struggling to reach what is called ‘to live’. This last example shares the same principles of

‘Social Darwinism’ and the example of ‘the blind fish’ which is within the range of ‘Survival
 HADDOUCHE 33

of the Fittest’. For this matter, ‘Social Darwinism’ and ‘Survival of the Fittest’ go hand in

hand.

B. Survival of the Fittest and Death Personified:

It is mentioned before that individuals who are adaptive, strong, intelligent, rich etc. are

more fit to survive than others. In this context, the one who survived cannot be stopped if no

one can dare to compete him. However, the only thing that can put an end to this dominance is

death itself, meaning that no matter how anyone gets stronger, death is always stronger than

him by finalising his path of hegemony. Based on this, death is personified with the fact of

having human characteristics through entering this war of survival, challenging and competing

humans, and that makes of death the strongest among all the survivors.

In Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, she describes how the three brothers

manage to survive in her fifth tale “The Tale of the Three Brothers”. The brothers could

survive and no one could challenge them. However, they failed to escape death at the end and

it took them one by one.

4. Death as a Final Destination:

A. The Final Destination Concept in the Movie Series:

Final Destination is an American is a series of supernatural horror films created by

Jeffrey Reddick, composed of five movies with different filmmakers. Their story is almost the

same about a group of people who are saved by a protagonist who claims that he had a vision
 HADDOUCHE 34

of them dying in a sort of accident including him, and it appears that he is right and they

survive following his prediction. However, death itself takes their lives one by one because

they were meant to die. Theoretically speaking The Final Destination is someone’s path in life

that cannot be changed.

A.1. Final Destination (2000):

Final Destination (2000) is the first movie created by James Wong, it is about a group

of friends preparing a flight to France, “Alex Browning” the protagonist in this story sees

unexplained weird signs at home and even at the airport. While they are waiting for the plane

to take off, “Alex” sees that the plane will explode and they will all die and he suddenly wokes

up and realises that it was just a dream but, he is scared to death because it felt so real and asks

his friends to cancel the flight as soon as possible.

The plane after a while bursts exactly as it is seen by “Alex” and they understand that it

is not just a simple dream but a vision to the future. However, there is a price for their survival

and their cheating of death. “Tod Waggner” dies after a strange accident in his bathroom.

“Terry Chaney” the young lady gets hit by a bus. “Valerie Lewton” is the next girl to die by a

weird accident in her kitchen room. “Billy Hitchcock” comes next hit by a train. Logically

speaking, “Alex” is the only one who is still alive and the next one to die also, he decides to

stay at home and takes his precautions but, he has enough of waiting and tries to commit

suicide and fails at the end. After six months, he goes to France with his two friends “Clear

Rivers” and “Carter Horton” and while sitting in a coffee shop a heavy piece of iron falls
 HADDOUCHE 35

toward “Alex”, “Carter” rapidly saves him but, it came back hitting “Carter” who dies instead

of Alex”. “Clear” and “Alex” remain alive breaking the circle of death for the current time.

A.2 Final Destination (2003):

Final Destination (2003) is the second part of the horror movie series, released three

years after the first movie and created by David Richard Ellis. The story begins with the

protagonist who is a young lady called “Kimberly Corman” or “Kim” having signs of

something bad will happen to her while watching television and in her neighbourhood. She

plans to go on a trip by car with her three friends “Shaina Gordon”, “Frankie Whitman” and

“Dano Royale”. “Kim” as the driver of the vehicle passes by a strange old woman telling

weird jokes. While driving she saw a kid playing with his toys making a scene of a truck

crashing a car. Then she suddenly sees a fuel truck losing his balance and causing a fatal

accident killing all the cars that were behind including “Kim” and her friends.

Luckily, she wakes up realizing that it is some sort of dream. But she is very shocked of

how it seemed real and stopped causing too much traffic to talk with a police officer “Thomas

Burke” warning him of what will happen and leaving the cars that were behind her stuck in the

highway. The premonition proves to be true and what she saw is happening exactly as the

scenario of her vision, “Shaina”, “Frankie” and “Dano” could not be saved in the accident but,

she saves the police officer and the group of cars that were stuck behind her. However, just

like the 2000 version of the movie death cannot be stopped, those who live will die one by

one. “Evan Lewis” is the first one to die in his neighbourhood after he got a crucial accident in
 HADDOUCHE 36

the kitchen room. After that, the group of survivors start to believe that they are experiencing

the same incident that happened three years ago at the airport. “Clear” the girl who survived in

the first movie locked herself in an isolated room with no sharp and dangerous tools to prevent

death, she decides to show up to help this group to break this curse. Later on, “Tim Carpenter”

who is one of the survivors gets hit by a heavy plate of glass causing his death. “Nora

Carpenter” comes next with a scary accident in the elevator. “Kat Jennings” dies in a car

accident with “Rory Peters”. “Eugene Dix” passes away in an explosion while he is in the

hospital. “Brian Gibbons” also dies while arranging a barbecue for “Kim” and “Thomas” the

police officer who both survived the series of brutal accidents.

A.3 Final Destination (2006):

The filmmaker James Wong the director of the Final Destination (2000), returns after

six years with a third part of the horror movie series. Final Destination (2006) is about a new

group of friends two girls “Carrie Dreyer” and “Wendy Christensen” who is the protagonist

and two boys “Kevin Fischer” and “Jason Wise” celebrating their graduation in an amusement

park. While sitting in the roller coaster “Wendy” experiences some sort of waking dream that

the roller coaster will derail and all of them will die. She freaks out and refuses to take the ride

convincing “Kevin” that something bad will happen, and cancelling the ride to her sister “Julie

Christensen”, “Frankie Cheeks”, two other girls “Ashley Freund”, “Ashlyn Halperin”, also

“Erin Ulmer” and her boyfriend “Ian McKinley” and finally a young lady called “Perry

Malinowski”. However, “Jason” and “Carrie” refused and were insistent to have that ride.
 HADDOUCHE 37

After taking off, the derailing of the roller coaster indeed happens and they escape death

thanks to “Wendy” except for “Jason” and “Carrie”.

Like the two previous movies, death always wins and the.e persons who survive the

incident will die whatever it takes, “Ashley” and “Ashlyn” are the first ones to die together,

burnt to death while using a malfunctioning tanning bed. Afterwards, another survivor

“Frankie” gets hit by a truck in a stop line causing his death. “Erin” is shot repeatedly in the

head by a nail gun. “Perry” is impaled through the chest by a flagpole and a falling platform

crushes“Ian” in a brutal way. And the last scene is pictured of “Wendy”, “Julie” and “Kevin”

dying on a train accident.

A.4 Final Destination (2009):

.The filmmaker of Final Destination (2003) comes back after six years to release the

fourth part of the horror films. The story is about a group of four friends “Hunt Wynorski”,

“Nick O’Bannon”, “Lori Milligan” and “Janet Cunningham”, who decide to have a study

break and go watch car racing and spend some time together.

“Nick” has a prevision of one of the cars exploding and causing a huge accident that

kills all of them. Similarly to the previous films, the vision felt so real and made “Nick” run

away leaving his seat, his three friends are upset but, after a short moment, they realise that

their lives and some others have been saved by him. However, the series of weird accidents

start punishing the survivors one by one, “Carter Daniels” who lost his wife “Cynthia Daniels”
 HADDOUCHE 38

in the first explosion, is the first one to die by his work car which got burnt in a weird way

causing him a brutal death. “Samantha Lane” comes next to die in a beauty salon getting hit by

a rock straight to her right eye. “Andy Kewzer” dies shredded by a fence made of a metal grid

in a strange accident in his working place. In a merciless accident, “Hunt” dies in a swimming

pool. “Jonathan Groves” as a next victim dies in the hospital and “George Lanter” gets hit by

an ambulance. Afterwards, all of “Nick” “Lori” and “Janet” get hit by a truck while having a

chat at a restaurant.

A.5 Final Destination (2011):

Final Destination (2011) is the fifth and last part of the horror movies, created by

Steven Quale. “Sam Lawton” the protagonist in this story is travelling by bus with his

colleagues. Whereas, their bus is crossing a long bridge, “Sam” has a premonition that strong

winds will break the bridge and he will die with his colleagues in a brutal accident except for

his ex-girlfriend “Molly Harper”. However, “Sam”, “Nathan Sears”, “Peter Friedkin”,

“Candice Hooper” who is the girlfriend of “Peter”, Sam’s boss “Dennis Lapman”, “Olivia

Castle” and “Isaac Palmer” will all die in that accident. Similarly to the previous movies,

“Sam” as the protagonist saves them by telling them what will happen if they go forward and

indeed he is right because the tragic event occurred indeed.

“Candice” is the first to die while practising Gymnastics. “Isaac” comes next dying at a

Chinese massage centre after a Buddha statue crushed his head. “Olivia” falls out of a clinic

window while doing eye surgery. Afterwards, a Wrench launched by accident hits “Dennis” in
 HADDOUCHE 39

the head eliminating him. “Peter” becomes unstable and decides to kill “Molly” who is not on

the list to break this labyrinth of death series but, “Sam” stabs “Peter” with a meat spit killing

him to save “Molly”. Two weeks later, “Sam” and “Molly” decide to go on a trip to Paris by

plane. However, while waiting for the plane to take off, they notice a fight between a group of

friends because one of them strangely wants to cancel the flight at the last minute arguing that

the plane will explode. After a while, they let them leave the flight, the plane burst taking the

lives of “Sam” and “Molly” meaning that the explosion that occurred is the same one of Final

Destination (2000). “Nathan” is not forgotten by death, while sitting in a bar the landing gear

from the broken plane breaks through the roof of the bar and crushed him to die.

From these five related films, the concept of Final Destination can be summarised into

the fact that death is invincible and it always wins. In other words, death cannot be stopped.

However, it remains a main vital branch of life and a rule of its continuity.

B. Fate, Personification of death and the Concept of Final Destination:

B.1 Death Accompanies Fate:

Regardless of the strong arguments that support the concept of “free will”, Humans will

sense that the path of their lives cannot be controlled because of the presence of fate.

(paraphrased (Ciliberti). Fate indeed is responsible for the depictions of an individual's road in

life. In this context, Caesar Plutarch describes, “Fate, however, is to all appearances more

unavoidable than unexpected.” (364).

 HADDOUCHE 40

, meaning that fate is not just unpredictable but, it is determined in the first place. Lemony

Snicket adds, “Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who

bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.”, Snicket wants to explain that

fate is unexpected and it is not necessarily pleasant.

There is a correlation between fate and death, death also can be one of the loyal

servants of fate. In this context, death is one of the representatives of fate. For example, in the

Final Destination films, fate always wins at the end and cannot be cheated on with the help of

death that takes the lives of all the survivors who tried to challenge fate and its servant which

is death.

B.2 Personification of Death in Final Destination Movie Series:

The concept of Final Destination in the five movies has two representatives; fate and

death personified; fate is unseen. However, death is presented as a human being who is visible.

“Considering his extensive knowledge of Death's design and how it works, many Final

Destination fans have theorized that Bludworth must just be the human personification of

Death, or at least some kind of representative for the reaper.” (Kennedy). From this

perspective, the character “William Bludworth” who understands death and its secrets more

than anyone in the movie series is the personification of death and possibly the Grim Reaper.

Tony Todd or “William” in the movies appears in three Final Destination movies: Final

Destination (2000), Final Destination (2003) and the fifth and last part Final Destination

(2011). In these lasts, death is presented as a normal human being, having black colour of skin,
 HADDOUCHE 41

wears like a gentleman, and has a short haircut. “William” is mysterious, calm, wise and does

not speak a lot due to his short appearances in the films but, he knows when and how to talk,

and he is never at a loss for words. Besides, he is aware of the design of death and how it

works.

In Final Destination (2000), there an iconic scene when “William” tells “Alex” and

“Clear”, “I’ll see you soon.” meaning that he is coming for them. In other words, death is near

and cannot be escaped. In that passage, there a clear sign of intelligence and wisdom from

“William” and that makes of him an ideal death in a human form (see fig.6).

Final Destination 1 45:54

 HADDOUCHE 42

“William” as death personified appears again in Final Destination (2003), showing that

he is more mysterious and smart. He tells “Kimberly” or “Kim”, “You have to follow the

signs, Kimberly”, in this passage, he gives “Kim” a false hope knowing that they do not know

each other and did not meet before and yet he strangely knows her name (see fig.7).

Final Destination 2 48:10

In Final Destination (2011), “William” after a funeral says some words explaining

death to “Sam” and “Peter”, “…doesn’t like to be cheated”, this passage is a direct threat by

death himself, meaning that death is unavoidable and certain (see fig.8).
 HADDOUCHE 43

Final Destination 5 25:56

“William” appears again in the same movie, “Sam” in an eager way asks him why he

keeps following them, “William” simply replies, “My job” claiming that he is just doing his

job. Theoretically speaking, his job to take the survivors lives one by one (see fig.9).
 HADDOUCHE 44

Final Destination 5 52:37

Noticeably, there are similarities between Final Destination movies and Rowling’s The

Tales of Beedle the Bard. In other words, in both works death is personified and has a decisive

role. However, in Final Destination, death is in a civilian form and has a name oppositely to

Rowling’s personification of death in which it is nameless. Besides, in both works death

pretends to be a friend of the protagonists but, in the end, it always wins and achieves its

vengeance because it felt cheated by humans.

III. Conclusion:

This dissertation examines and demonstrates the phenomenon of death and its

personification in a general way, and its appearance in Joanne K. Rowling’s The Tales of

Beedle the Bard in a specific way.

 HADDOUCHE 45

For this purpose, I have mentioned the relationship between the metaphysical

philosophy and literature explaining: the concept of metaphysics, literature and how literature

is affected by the metaphysical field. I have also included the fact that literature is dominated

by death explaining: the meaning of death, how it is seen according to ancient civilizations and

how death can dominate literary works.

Metaphysics or “metaphysika” in Greek is every type of phenomenon that is beyond

physicality. It asks challenging questions such as what is the origin of the world and how it is

created. Aristotle divides Metaphysics into three parts: Ontology which deals with the essence

of reality, Theology which studies divinities and finally Universal Science or the study of

“First Principles”. I have also dealt with the concept of Literature and its vast significance that

differs from person to another. Taking into consideration, Salman Rushdie’s point of view

who thinks that Literature is a social adventure in life. In literary works, there is a use of many

figures of speech. However, the three most common and almost identical ones are: Simile

which is a direct comparison of two things using the word “like” or “as”, Metaphor which

looks like Simile but without using “like” or “as”, and the third figure of speech is

Personification or what is called “anthropomorphism” when human characteristics and

attitudes are given to a non-human thing or concept.

As mentioned before, Simone De Beauvoir thinks that Metaphysics has a strong impact

on Literature as they go hand in hand, discussing similar and common topics. In other words,

they complete each other.

 HADDOUCHE 46

I have explained the concept of death using Zygmunt Bauman’s opinion in which he

thinks that death is unexpected and cannot be explained. For this matter, the understanding of

it may be reached using Fiction and old beliefs. In this context, I have mentioned how some

ancient civilizations claimed to understand death: Egyptians for example used mummification

to preserve their dead bodies to prepare them for the afterlife, Mesopotamians who believed

that if the dead are not given the right burial, they will come back to life and haunt the living.

Similarily to Mesopotamians, ancient Greeks and Romans also thought that a wrong burial

brings back the dead to life to haunt humans to achieve vengeance. However, ancient Chinese

believed that death is a form of continuity of life, and the living should take good care of their

tombs to avoid the anger of the dead and the disaster they will cause if they are resurrected.

It is mentioned previously that literature’s most appeared topic is death, it is present in

modern poems, drama and novels, as a symbol, plot, in a form of a theme or even a character

in the story which leads us to what is called the Personification of Death.

Moving to a more detailed part of this dissertation, I have shown how Rowling

personifies death in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, explaining: the meaning of Personification

in general and the Personification of Death in particular, the history of personifications of

death and how Rowling manages to make of death a human being in her book. To reinforce

my point of view, I have decided to use The Hawthorne Effect Theory, Social Darwinism

along with The Survival of the Fittest and finally Final Destination concept which is presented

in the movie series.

 HADDOUCHE 47

Personification is the fact of giving inhuman beings human qualifications and

characteristics such as gender, identity and the ability to talk, hear and sees. For example,

death as a non-human being can be personified and have human abilities, Kerry Gray thinks

that The Grim Reaper is a form of personification of death since he looks like a human being,

has a black colour and holds a scythe.

Personifications of death have a history that existed in the past and differed from a

culture to another. It was believed in the old world that life represents the “Good Mother” and

death is the “Evil Mother”. However, in ancient Greece death was personified by a male god

of death called “Thanatos”, portrayed in a human shape having wings. “Ah Puch” is the

Mayan god of death described in a form of a human skeleton. Besides, The Grim Reaper is the

well-known personification of death of all times, according to the Christian apocalyptic tenets

he is one of the four horsemen who will declare the end of the world. Furthermore, according

to the Japanese mythology, the human form of death is called “Shinigami” which means the

spirit or, the god of death who looks like “The Grim Reaper” but he does not ride a horse.

Indeed, the Japanese people are still including “Shinigamis” in their television and Manga

series and even in Animes such as Death Note which is a manga lately turned into an anime

that has a personification of death character called “Ryuk”. Mexicans also personify death in a

form of the female skeleton “Santa Muerte” and some of them consider her the lady of Holy

Death even nowadays.

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Rowling uses personification of death in her book The Tales of Beedle the Bard, more

precisely in the fifth and last chapter “The Tales of the Three Brothers”. In this story, death is

presented in a form of a strange person who is smart, tricky, feels anger, speaks, hears and sees

just like human beings.

Following Henry A. Landsberger’s theory called The Hawthorne Effect which is

applied to workers, death can be applied as well as a supervisor of human beings seeing the

fact that it makes them frightened, cautious and brings to them the feeling of being watched all

the time. In this context, death personified is the superior who observes humans.

Following Charles Darwin’s Evolution theory which is used in politics, economics and

social view, and according to Social Darwinists who believe in the “Survival of the Fittest”

that makes of the creatures who manage to adapt in their environment a priority when it comes

to survive and reproduce. The term “Survival of the Fittest” can also be applied to humans.

But, nowadays “to survive” and “to live” are no longer the same. In other words, the ones who

“live” are the rich and powerful by inheritance or through working hard and making a fortune

while the rest will just “survive” because they are poor and weak socially. However, the only

thing that can put an end to the ones who “live” and even to the “survive” category is death

itself, and if we consider it a person, he is invincible and unstoppable such as the

personification of death in Rowling’s book.

Death follows the orders of destiny as it is the case in Rowling’s chapter “The Tales of

the Three Brothers” as well in Final Destination movie series. In both works the characters are
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meant to die but, they dared to challenge destiny and its obedient servant which is death. For

this reason, death personified takes the lives of the characters who escaped death with a

vengeful spirit.

Understandably, death or the personification of it represents a bad person who is smart,

greedy and always brings sorrow to characters but, what if this belief is wrong meaning that

death is a good person, a positive matter that unchains humans from the pain and sadness of

life and what if it is a form of rebirth. In this context, I leave this dissertation to an open-end

discussion: The False Truth About Death: Death as a Generous Person, a Gift in Life.