THANATOPHOBIA AND THE OTHER SIDE OF DEATH
Whenever I stumble on the word ‘death’, while reading from a book or having heard of it from
a verbal statement, there is one thing that quickly consumes my heart
for very few minutes, it is one tragic scene that unfolded years back in
the stage of life. I could very much remember every bits of the story. I
could remember I was eight years old then when the story was narrated
to me, by one of my beloved primary school teachers. He narrated the
story to me purposely to ward off the bout of sadness that enveloped my
heart due to the recent demise of my father. This he did by exposing me
to another disastrous event which certainly weighs more than the death
of my father and which would put into my mind the fact that in every
situation man needs to compare himself with other situations and give
praise to God rather than accusing Him of whatever He does.
The story was all about two-loving birds whose affection and love towards each other could not be explained but rather imagined. It would not be an exaggeration if I tag these two lovers as the Nigerian version of Romeo and Juliet. According to the teacher, Ade and Funke’s love was described as being abnormal as they both cannot do without seeing each other several times in a day. Their love was as deeper than the depth of an ocean and as thicker than blood. It was impossible for any lustful person to unloosen the knot of their love, not even their parents.
Funke, Ade’s fiancée and his world, couldn’t sleep without staring for hours at his picture likewise Ade. It is no doubt that the definition of true love can be apparently envisaged in their relationship. When it was time for these two to get married, few days to their introduction ceremony, something catastrophic and overwhelmingly-saddening happened. Ade and Funke had a terrible accident on their way home after having relished spending times together in a remote resort center. They couldn’t survive to live to see another day. They and their unimaginable love were sent to a journey of no return by death. Ah! That was a horrible gift of grief, which death had presented to them. This undoubtedly is one of the reasons why man intensely despises and fear death. Is it not death, which makes fertile lands to be barren and turns a juicy home into a wailing ground?
Death is described by some religious adherents as the transition of souls into the elusive world. As birth marks the genesis of a soul, death marks the end. It is worthy to state also that as birth brings joy and ecstasy, death brings sorrow and despair. It is in this sense that we can refer death as the opposite of birth. These two phenomenons are prevalent in the life of every living organism which includes man, animal and plants. When one ceases breathing, then it is death that follows. In the study of biology, eight major characteristics are ascribed to living organisms, and it is worthy to mention that death is among them and it is the last in line. To elucidate what we mean by death, it will be advisable to chip in the dictionary meaning of it. wikitionary defines death as ‘the cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism’s existence’. It is to be borne in the mind that death could mean varieties of things to variety of people. The definition of death can as well be envisaged in the Biblical and Quranic expressions. Due to space constrain, its definitions would be limited to the above explanations.
Furthermore, after having explained briefly but clearly, what death means, it becomes necessary to identify the reasons why people generally have hatred for death and also why we intensely fear death (thanatophobia). There are some identifiable factors and features of death which in no doubt spearhead the reasons why thanatophobia (fear of death) has been so prevalent in the human world.these factors shall be mentioned and the assertion that these factors constitute to man’s fear toward death shall be painstakingly justified.
One of the reasons why man despises and fears death is the inevitable nature of death. Death is inevitable, unavoidable, unstoppable, certain and inexorable. These words have much in common in the sense that they collectively mean “something that is bound to happen no matter any reason whatsoever. This feature of death has clearly been one of the major actors in the scene of fuelling man’s phobia of death. Man’s great and burning desire overtime is to become immortal so as to triumph over the fear of death’s inevitability. However, man hasn’t found yet, the cure for death. Moreover, if man could brew a portion that would let him live till eternity, he would not be in any way reluctant in using all his strength, wisdom, time and wealth to get the portion brewed. In a nutshell, death still remains the greatest fear of man on earth. The consecutive announcements of the sudden demise of people around us, strikes our heart with more fear and also bring about the question of ‘when is it going to be our turn?’ I could vividly remember I wrote in one of my poems thus “death knows not any king/nor can be intimidated by tyrant’s bribe/death knows not if wearily aged you have grown/death knows not a kid or teenage/he is a pious servant of his lord”.
Another factor that constitutes to man’s thanatophobia (fear 0f death) is cessation. Death marks the cessation of life, that is, the end of a living organism which man himself belongs. Man’s unpreparedness towards ‘life after death’ due to the suddenness of death weighs intense fear in his heart. The common saying of ‘everyone desires heaven but doesn’t want to die’ is a rider to the above assertion. Man is as cunning and sly like tortoise in the folktale world, supposing he knows is time of death, he will indulge in sinful acts and when it is a minute to his death, he would suddenly swerve into doing good things because he knows that as the strictest father would unbend his brows for his penitent son, so will God accepts the repentance of man. The gift of cessation which death offers to man makes him describe death as ‘a journey of no return’. However, it is worthy to mention the philosophical and mysterious fact that death in the mystical sense means ‘the liberation of the soul from the imprisonment of the body’.
Man’s sinful nature is also one of the factors that heighten man’s fear of death. It has been affirmed by most religious scholars that man is sinful in nature and he can only be cleansed from the burden of sins by unceasingly seeking forgiveness from his Creator. Therefore, it is not hidden to man, the fact that he is not in any way prepared to proceed to the elusive world wherein he’ll be evaluated and then admitted to paradise or hell, hence he becomes fearful of death. In addition the overwhelmingly-horrible, thought provoking and appalling premonitions and descriptions ascribed to hell, also stand as a dramatis personae in the drama of thanatophobia. In Islam and Christianity, it is believed that paradise serves as a reward to compensate the believers and hell, the ‘inferno of doom’ is what the disbelievers deserve. Hell, however, is what no one desires but it is a usual paradox that man does not desire being admitted to hell yet he does things that’ll make him end-up therein. Some people’s scale of atrocities weigh more than the scale of their righteous deeds and it is in this sense that they do not want to die because they feel that hell in one way or the other seems to be their eternal dwelling. It is worthy to elucidate this point by citing the situation of a killer. Someone who had parted many souls from their bodies doesn’t in any atom wants his soul to be parted from his body; He that kills desires not to be killed.
Another major factor that constitute to man’s fear of death (thanatophobia) is man’s intense love for luxury. Beautiful, modern estate of houses fleets of sophisticated cars and private jets, exotic wears e.t.c are topping man’s yearnings. Those who already possess these luxuries in abundance do not want to leave them behind as a result of the sudden visitation of death; hence they detest death and also fear it. On the other hand, those who do not have these luxuries do not also want to kick the bucket or either wants to be kicked by the bucket in as much as they believe and hope that they might, in the nearest future possess them. They hinge their optimism on the common Yoruba saying “eni tio tiku shi ni ireti” meaning “a living person still has hope (which a dead person doesn’t have)”. Putting all these into consideration, they wouldn’t want death to knock off their dreams and optimism.
Many are the factors that constitute to thanatophobia; meanwhile, the few aforementioned factors are its major actors. Most of us, if not all, frown at death. When a beloved or illustrious person in our community is announced dead, the whole community would echo with rigorous and energetic wails and cries, flood of tears spring down from our swollen eyeballs to our saturated cheeks, the children gleeful cat and bull chase games are ceased and market activities are going temporarily stopped. Even rats among other creatures, quiver with fear at the point of death. However, worthy is it, to express the fact that death, despite the aforementioned factors of thanatophobia, has it good side.
Death can be likened to a sword which has two sides; it has the good side and the unfavourable side. However, the unfavourable phase of death has become explicit to man over the years while the good side (the other side) remains always either always u ntold or seldom told, therefore, it becomes necessary to ask ourselves some questions. If there is nothing like death in this earth, what could identifiable implications? If everyone is immortal what would the earth looks like? What have been the major impacts of death on human beings? Giving answers to these questions, one has to be mindful of the positive things which death offers. I shall clearly state the obvious again, what we might know but yet ignore what we might have perceived but yet unable to recognize, what stays so close to our eyes, yet our eyes usually look above or beyond, but not precisely at them. These are the impacts or significances of death....
Yahaya Habeeb Kayode
watch out for the concluding part of the article
Call 08137356116 or mail yahayahabeeb@yahoo.com for feedback
The story was all about two-loving birds whose affection and love towards each other could not be explained but rather imagined. It would not be an exaggeration if I tag these two lovers as the Nigerian version of Romeo and Juliet. According to the teacher, Ade and Funke’s love was described as being abnormal as they both cannot do without seeing each other several times in a day. Their love was as deeper than the depth of an ocean and as thicker than blood. It was impossible for any lustful person to unloosen the knot of their love, not even their parents.
Funke, Ade’s fiancée and his world, couldn’t sleep without staring for hours at his picture likewise Ade. It is no doubt that the definition of true love can be apparently envisaged in their relationship. When it was time for these two to get married, few days to their introduction ceremony, something catastrophic and overwhelmingly-saddening happened. Ade and Funke had a terrible accident on their way home after having relished spending times together in a remote resort center. They couldn’t survive to live to see another day. They and their unimaginable love were sent to a journey of no return by death. Ah! That was a horrible gift of grief, which death had presented to them. This undoubtedly is one of the reasons why man intensely despises and fear death. Is it not death, which makes fertile lands to be barren and turns a juicy home into a wailing ground?
Death is described by some religious adherents as the transition of souls into the elusive world. As birth marks the genesis of a soul, death marks the end. It is worthy to state also that as birth brings joy and ecstasy, death brings sorrow and despair. It is in this sense that we can refer death as the opposite of birth. These two phenomenons are prevalent in the life of every living organism which includes man, animal and plants. When one ceases breathing, then it is death that follows. In the study of biology, eight major characteristics are ascribed to living organisms, and it is worthy to mention that death is among them and it is the last in line. To elucidate what we mean by death, it will be advisable to chip in the dictionary meaning of it. wikitionary defines death as ‘the cessation of life and all associated processes; the end of an organism’s existence’. It is to be borne in the mind that death could mean varieties of things to variety of people. The definition of death can as well be envisaged in the Biblical and Quranic expressions. Due to space constrain, its definitions would be limited to the above explanations.
Furthermore, after having explained briefly but clearly, what death means, it becomes necessary to identify the reasons why people generally have hatred for death and also why we intensely fear death (thanatophobia). There are some identifiable factors and features of death which in no doubt spearhead the reasons why thanatophobia (fear of death) has been so prevalent in the human world.these factors shall be mentioned and the assertion that these factors constitute to man’s fear toward death shall be painstakingly justified.
One of the reasons why man despises and fears death is the inevitable nature of death. Death is inevitable, unavoidable, unstoppable, certain and inexorable. These words have much in common in the sense that they collectively mean “something that is bound to happen no matter any reason whatsoever. This feature of death has clearly been one of the major actors in the scene of fuelling man’s phobia of death. Man’s great and burning desire overtime is to become immortal so as to triumph over the fear of death’s inevitability. However, man hasn’t found yet, the cure for death. Moreover, if man could brew a portion that would let him live till eternity, he would not be in any way reluctant in using all his strength, wisdom, time and wealth to get the portion brewed. In a nutshell, death still remains the greatest fear of man on earth. The consecutive announcements of the sudden demise of people around us, strikes our heart with more fear and also bring about the question of ‘when is it going to be our turn?’ I could vividly remember I wrote in one of my poems thus “death knows not any king/nor can be intimidated by tyrant’s bribe/death knows not if wearily aged you have grown/death knows not a kid or teenage/he is a pious servant of his lord”.
Another factor that constitutes to man’s thanatophobia (fear 0f death) is cessation. Death marks the cessation of life, that is, the end of a living organism which man himself belongs. Man’s unpreparedness towards ‘life after death’ due to the suddenness of death weighs intense fear in his heart. The common saying of ‘everyone desires heaven but doesn’t want to die’ is a rider to the above assertion. Man is as cunning and sly like tortoise in the folktale world, supposing he knows is time of death, he will indulge in sinful acts and when it is a minute to his death, he would suddenly swerve into doing good things because he knows that as the strictest father would unbend his brows for his penitent son, so will God accepts the repentance of man. The gift of cessation which death offers to man makes him describe death as ‘a journey of no return’. However, it is worthy to mention the philosophical and mysterious fact that death in the mystical sense means ‘the liberation of the soul from the imprisonment of the body’.
Man’s sinful nature is also one of the factors that heighten man’s fear of death. It has been affirmed by most religious scholars that man is sinful in nature and he can only be cleansed from the burden of sins by unceasingly seeking forgiveness from his Creator. Therefore, it is not hidden to man, the fact that he is not in any way prepared to proceed to the elusive world wherein he’ll be evaluated and then admitted to paradise or hell, hence he becomes fearful of death. In addition the overwhelmingly-horrible, thought provoking and appalling premonitions and descriptions ascribed to hell, also stand as a dramatis personae in the drama of thanatophobia. In Islam and Christianity, it is believed that paradise serves as a reward to compensate the believers and hell, the ‘inferno of doom’ is what the disbelievers deserve. Hell, however, is what no one desires but it is a usual paradox that man does not desire being admitted to hell yet he does things that’ll make him end-up therein. Some people’s scale of atrocities weigh more than the scale of their righteous deeds and it is in this sense that they do not want to die because they feel that hell in one way or the other seems to be their eternal dwelling. It is worthy to elucidate this point by citing the situation of a killer. Someone who had parted many souls from their bodies doesn’t in any atom wants his soul to be parted from his body; He that kills desires not to be killed.
Another major factor that constitute to man’s fear of death (thanatophobia) is man’s intense love for luxury. Beautiful, modern estate of houses fleets of sophisticated cars and private jets, exotic wears e.t.c are topping man’s yearnings. Those who already possess these luxuries in abundance do not want to leave them behind as a result of the sudden visitation of death; hence they detest death and also fear it. On the other hand, those who do not have these luxuries do not also want to kick the bucket or either wants to be kicked by the bucket in as much as they believe and hope that they might, in the nearest future possess them. They hinge their optimism on the common Yoruba saying “eni tio tiku shi ni ireti” meaning “a living person still has hope (which a dead person doesn’t have)”. Putting all these into consideration, they wouldn’t want death to knock off their dreams and optimism.
Many are the factors that constitute to thanatophobia; meanwhile, the few aforementioned factors are its major actors. Most of us, if not all, frown at death. When a beloved or illustrious person in our community is announced dead, the whole community would echo with rigorous and energetic wails and cries, flood of tears spring down from our swollen eyeballs to our saturated cheeks, the children gleeful cat and bull chase games are ceased and market activities are going temporarily stopped. Even rats among other creatures, quiver with fear at the point of death. However, worthy is it, to express the fact that death, despite the aforementioned factors of thanatophobia, has it good side.
Death can be likened to a sword which has two sides; it has the good side and the unfavourable side. However, the unfavourable phase of death has become explicit to man over the years while the good side (the other side) remains always either always u ntold or seldom told, therefore, it becomes necessary to ask ourselves some questions. If there is nothing like death in this earth, what could identifiable implications? If everyone is immortal what would the earth looks like? What have been the major impacts of death on human beings? Giving answers to these questions, one has to be mindful of the positive things which death offers. I shall clearly state the obvious again, what we might know but yet ignore what we might have perceived but yet unable to recognize, what stays so close to our eyes, yet our eyes usually look above or beyond, but not precisely at them. These are the impacts or significances of death....
Yahaya Habeeb Kayode
watch out for the concluding part of the article
Call 08137356116 or mail yahayahabeeb@yahoo.com for feedback
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