Analysis
Death is a natural change, just like the seasons, just like birth. Everyone has his or her own way of dealing with it. In the story "From the Grave to the Cradle: My Morbid Stages of Change", the author demonstrates that feelings toward death change with age and maturity by using cold colors, a changing tense, uncomfortable imagery, and references to the afterlife.
The colors in the story changed as the character�s perception of death changed. At the youngest, death was dark and frightening with �Dark clouds�, �Black wool. Black cotton.�, and �thick and black.�. Then, the character's not sure how to respond to death and this is shown in the �cool gray walls�. When the character�s father is sick, death becomes sickeningly depressing to her shown through the uncomfortable �sickly green walls� and �touched with blue� face. At the most mature, the character becomes acceptant and understanding of death and the colors become lighter and more serene �pink and lavender� and "white lights".
The first three sections of the story are in past tense to show the characters past feelings about the unfamiliarity of death and to show that the feelings are only in that time period and don�t necessarily last in the present. In the beginning, the character is afraid and associates death with devils �I could see the devils.� In the second part, the character doesn�t grieve, �My grieving was done.� In the third part, the author uses past tense to show how the sadness of sickness affected the character, but since it�s in past it�s not a lasting feeling, �I cried, too. I cried for the oxygen tube�sooner than I�d expected.� In the last part, it�s in present tense to show the higher understanding of their responsibility �it�s out of my hands.� It�s in present so that the story can end on a note of inner peace that can perhaps last forever.
The uncomfortable imagery adds to the uncomfortable topic of death. The claws �black and thick� and �the shadows dance on the ceiling� heighten the childlike fear in the beginning. The �white foam� that �swirled to the center and down the drain� is a parallel to death and shows that, sometimes, when people die it�s over and it�s best not to dwell on it. In the third part, there�s a �TV in the upper left corner of the room� that �blared that day�s winning lottery numbers�. The lottery shows chance and that the characters father had won a sort of lottery and didn�t die. Also, the TV in the upper left corner is in the opposite corner that TV�s are usually in to show the uncomfortable feelings. The fourth part deals with terminals shrinking in size and blurring to demonstrate the dreamlike state in the character�s mind, �the terminal gets smaller� and then changes to "lifted up" to show the heightened maturity.
Death is associated with an afterlife and this story deals with those theories. The beginning is filled with �devils� and mysterious �shadows� which suggest a sort of hell or evil afterlife. The second part talks about a limbo or middle state in dealing with death, �The few drops left in purgatory.� The third deals with accepting eternity and the enormity of it, �The sickly green walls go on to eternity, to heaven and hell�. In the fourth, there is finally a peace and strong ties to the bible and church songs � �As I walk through the Valley of Death I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.� I mutter to myself over and over.�
In conclusion, the author has effectively shown the character's ability to deal with change and the most dramatic change, death.