# Death — The Devil’s Dictionary character guide

> Death in The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** G. J. Hearse Death

**First appearance:** 0001-the-devil-s-dictionary

## Snapshot

Personified as G. J. Hearse Death, a wry cosmic functionary whose appearances turn mortality into a matter of weather reports and bureaucratic complaint.

## Who they are

Death moves through the Dictionary as both a personified power and a punchline, quoted in verse and invoked in definitions with the familiarity of a neighbor. In one passage a damned youth, reared from coals, writes a forecast on asbestos: 'Cloudy; variable winds, with local showers; cooler; snow.' The joke is the point: even the afterlife is subject to dull routine, and Death's supporting role keeps the book's darkest material light on its feet.

## In the story

### [The Devil's Dictionary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/the-devil-s-dictionary)

Referenced as G. J. Hearse Death in a definition.

### [A](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/a)

Referenced in the definition of 'Abracadabra' through the poem by Jamrach Holobom.

### [C](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/c)

Appears in the poem within the definition of 'Carmelite' as a character who gives a monk a ride.

### [G](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/g)

Mentioned in the definition of 'Genteel' as the author of a verse.

### [H](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/chapters/h)

Attributed as G. J. Hearse in the poem under 'Head-Money'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/characters/death
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_devil_s_dictionary_se/characters