Saturday 9 July 2016

Death

"'I think you look on death as your friend,' she murmured. 'That is a strange friend for a young man to have.'
"The only faithful friend in this world,' he said. 'Death is always sure to be at your side.'"
-Poul Anderson, The Broken Sword (London, 1977), Chapter XXI, p. 153.

Because death defines its opposite, life, Neil Gaiman personifies Death (and see here) not as a hooded man with a scythe but as a perpetually young and beautiful woman. Gaiman also quotes this poem.

Death waits for us all and is always with us as Anderson's character, Skafloc, says. Skafloc and Anderson avoid using a personal pronoun but we need to persuade writers to follow Gaiman's example by calling Death "she." Dream's sister can permeate fiction as she permeates life.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I'm puzzled, why is it better to "personalize" Death using the female pronoun instead of the masculine?

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
It isn't. It's just that it can be either and Gaiman personifies death really well in THE SANDMAN.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Understood, thanks!

Sean