Death and Mourning in Animal Communities

After reading Jenny's blog on elephant mourning after death, it got me to thinking about animal mourning and how they react to the death of those close to them. Her blog post can be checked out here.

It is so touching to me to read stories like these - I think because we as humans are able to feel such similar things at times. It highlights that it's a natural process, and that death (particularly the death of a loved one), can be so challenging for anyone and anything!

On a personal note, a family member of mine used to travel up island frequently. He told a story about wolves (who, supposedly, almost mate for life) - one of whom was killed on the road sometime around when he was driving up island. Most of the times he's driven up since, for months afterwards, one of the wolves hung around the place where the other died, in mourning. So precious, and so sad!

Although Neanderthals are certainly a different story, I think that the topic of animal mourning can relate to our research of our case study/final project. For my portion of the project, I looked into intentionality or evidence of purpose when it came to Neanderthal burials and the way they may have treated their dead. Although it was impossible to be sure whether they did bury their dead intentionally or not, I still feel that it is most definitely a possibility. Arguments had been put forward that Neanderthals didn't have the brain capacity to reason as humans do, or to make meaningful associations. This was transferred to the assumption that they then wouldn't have had funerary practices such as placing meaningful objects with their dead or purposefully disposing of their dead. I have to disagree - if care for the dead can be seen in many animal communities as well as in humans, the possibility that Neanderthals did as well has to be looked further into.

Walt Disney and Glamorized Life Stages

After vacationing in sunny California this year, a visit to Disneyland highlighted to me some of the typical and idealized life stages in Western culture. As lovely and enjoyable of a place it is, the complete absence of death is a little strange in my opinion - while most other life stages are celebrated through the lives of fairytale characters, death is essentially non-existent.

Life stages of birth and youth are extremely prevalent in Walt Disneys' creations in Disneyland. Youth is very frequently celebrated as Disney princesses are always young, beautiful, and in the 'prime' stages of their lives; the princes are similarly young, strong, and in 'good health'. The milestone of adolescence and learning about oneself is also a common theme in most Disney movies, further exemplifying importance of youth and strength. I think it can also be agreed upon that the milestone of finding love and marriage is a common conclusion of the majority of Disney movies. It is interesting to notice that this life stage of marriage is usually the latest stage covered by Disney movies - old age is rarely looked at, and death is almost completely avoided (with, perhaps, the except of "Up" - lovely movie :) ).

So, while death is a very real part of any given culture, it seems as though some cultures go to more of an effort to ignore it or over-stimulate with other attractions so that it is forgotten. Although these Disney movies are aimed at children and are certainly idealized, I think it represents the wish of many people to escape death - at least while we are around to do so!

Medicine as an escape from death

This BBC article was brought to my attention a number of times within the past few days. Please feel free to visit the web page - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21653463

While I think this is an incredible achievement, and it makes my heart fill with joy to know that this is a possibility, (for this girl and for others)...it brings back to my mind thoughts I have had about death, how terrifying we think it is, and what extremes we go to to avoid it. To be clear - I completely understand the desire to save yourself or your loved ones given the opportunity.

Medicine and associated technologies have fascinated and inspired me for some time. I support medicinal advancements and feel terrible even raising questions, particularly when a cure for such a devastating disease such as HIV, incurable for years, is making advancements towards such a cure. A cure for this disease would save millions of lives, eliminate associated social stigma against infected individuals, and likely improve the lives of many individuals (particularly from particular "at-risk" groups). As the presence of illness is frequently a result of deeply engrained social structures, the cure for a disease such as HIV could contribute to equality across and within populations.

But, as we create more cures for all of the illnesses afflicting populations today (both infectious diseases in developing nations and chronic/degenerative diseases in developed nations), are we partially ignoring the causes of these illnesses in the first place? Death has always been part of the human experience - and (obviously) it always will be. Medicine, in some ways, regardless of the positive things it does for our world - can also be seen as an avoidance of death.

Death, in the Oscars

source: http://gnnaz.com/2013/02/18/jims-2013-oscar-predictions/

Watching the Oscars this time around got me thinking about Western values surrounding death and practices that we now hold closest to us. As they celebrated the lives of those influential individuals in the film industry who had passed within the year, they represented the values and ways of dealing with death that are frequently seen today. It is interesting to see how celebrities are treated and remembered in death - is it any different than the average ‘Western’ citizen?

Relating to ideas learned from research on the Jewish cemetery, and to the 20th/21st century movement towards ‘cyber’, intangible material, I found this theme to be pretty prominent at the Oscars, particularly during the ‘in memoriam’ section of the evening. An entire portion of the night was dedicated to those who had recently passed. Each person had at least one photo displayed, and some had a comment or quote - probably relating to their perceived importance within the community.

How is it that I felt a personal connection to these people? I hadn’t even heard of half of them. But nostalgic music, quotations from when they were alive, sweet pictures in their memory...makes you want to cry! (There is, of course, the possibility that I am just an unnecessarily emotional individual).

It seems to symbolize Western culture to me in at least one major way. The (for lack of a better word), ‘meaningfulness’ of this representation connects to more people than just the close friends and family of each individual, as the representation makes the viewer almost feel as if they knew them. The remembrance of individuals in death seems to have become much more designed to stay in memory, rather than as a remaining physical remnant of each individual. It seems to coincide with the increased occurrence of cremation in Western society - the spreading of ashes in meaningful places is designed to last in memories.

I enjoyed this section in the Oscars, and wasn’t ashamed to be a part of this movement that treats death as best remembered through memory (not to everyone in the ‘West’, of course!). I think it’s rather fitting - after all, how else do individuals stay in the minds of the living? I think valuable memories may be a pretty good way - at least a way that I enjoy and would be more than happy with prior to my own death.