An Analysis of Human Behaviour in the Face of Imminent Death in Two Short Stories [PDF]

Pre-University Paper from the year 2021 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies – Literature, grade: 15, , course: Wissenschaftspropädeutischen Seminars, language: English, abstract: The intention of this term paper is to describe human behavior in the face of imminent death in general and, based on this topic, to analyze and compare it by using two short stories. The first story, ‘The Last Night of the World’ by Ray Bradbury, deals with the simultaneous death of all people on the same day. All adults seem to have had the same dream that the world would end on this night. The story is about a couple and how they spend their final evening together. It specifically expresses their behavior and thoughts in their probably last hours.

The second story, ‘The Knowers’ by Helen Phillips, is about the prediction of the exact date of someone’s death. The author describes a couple with very different opinions on whether they want to know their personal date. Against her husband’s wish, the wife decides to learn her date of death and only reveals the day and month to him, but not the year. The behavior, thoughts, and feelings of the characters during the years until the expected date are described precisely. Both short stories are primarily concerned with how the characters behave after knowing the exact date of their deaths. There are many similarities, but also some differences, which are compared after the analysis of each individual story.