# Death and Mortality in The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford

> Theme guide for The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford by Mark Rutherford.

A recurring preoccupation with death, the terror of dying, and the struggle to find meaning or comfort in the face of mortality, especially when traditional religious assurances about an afterlife have been lost.

## Where it surfaces

- [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/chapters/epigraph): The entire poem is a meditation on the speaker's imminent death and his physical decay.
- [III: Water Lane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/chapters/iii-water-lane): Rutherford prays for death during his depression and later fears dying 'the most contemptible of all deaths' from alcoholism.
- [VI: Ellen and Mary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/chapters/vi-ellen-and-mary): Rutherford reflects on the inevitability of death and the contradictions of life, seeing good and evil as inseparable.
- [Oxford Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/chapters/ix-oxford-street): Miss Mardon's death and Rutherford's subsequent broken-heartedness, as well as reflections on death as a regenerator, are central.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/themes/death_and_mortality
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_autobiography_of_mark_rutherford_se/themes