Short Fiction · Theme

Death and Mortality

How Short Fiction develops Death and Mortality.

Death is a pervasive presence, from the 'Universal Death' in the mist to the suicides and slow decays of characters, often portrayed as a release or an inevitable fate.

Where it surfaces

The Sorrows of the Body
The narrator speaks of being broken before time, feeling like a corpse, and hearing the Soul plot to slay the Body by drowning.
The Triumph of Youth
The woman's fear of aging and death, symbolized by the old man and her own reflection.
The Old Shoemaker
The physical decay and the 'world-soiled soul' give way to a spiritual release, suggesting a passage beyond mortal limitations.