What The Priest Says

The Broken Sword, IX.

Looking at the dead bodies of her husband and sons, Aelfrida whispers:

"'The priest says it would be a sin, or I would slay myself now and go to my rest beside you...'" (p. 58)

I agree with the priest although not for his reasons! By remaining alive, Aelfrida can later appreciate life although differently from before and even though this seems impossible to her at the time. More fundamentally, we are the organisms through which reality is known/knows itself. As such, our role is to remain conscious as long as possible, not to give up when times are bad.

The most fundamental question of philosophy is the relationship between being and consciousness and the most fundamental question of life is: "To be or not to be," - in Shakespeare and also here.