In this paper, the representations of death and dying will be analyzed on the basis of authentic material. Specific terminology used by society when addressing this field of topic will be detected and evaluated.
In the following paper, the novel “The House of God” will be scanned for representations of that terminology through concordance software. The reflection of publicly used terminology within the novel will to a certain extend show the special relevance of death in the hospital setting and in how far death differs from normality in this field. Furthermore it will allow to draw conclusions on how the characters feel towards this topic and to which extend the novel depicts the hospital and the behavior of those who work in it as inhuman and deviating from what is regarded to be the social norm.
Healthcare professionals working in the hospital setting are in the first line concerned with the medical condition of their patients. Moreover, they are trained to master and to alter nearly every possible medical condition they find a patient in and change it for the better. While the aim of every hospital treatment is to cure diseases and to treat injuries until the patients discharge from the institution, the death of a patient counteracts this aim. Where the condition of nearly every disease can be altered or, in the light of a growing number of chronic diseases at least be transformed to a resilient state, death is the ultimate end of these endeavors.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) describes death as “…the act or fact of dying; the end of life; the final cessation of the vital functions […] of an individual.” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2013a) Away from this objective description, the death of a patient, especially when it occurs suddenly and is not expected may be a burdensome event even for medical staff.
Samuel Shems novel ”The House of God” is about the young intern Roy Bash who experiences his first year in the world of professional medicine at the Best Medical Center in Boston, MA. In the course of this year the protagonist experiences various events that revolve around living and dying of patients, colleagues and friends. Since these events take place in the setting of a hospital, they are meant to be dealt with professionally. The way how death is depicted, how it is reflected in the language of the professionals’ at Best Medical Center may differ from the way “the outside world”, the rest of society deals with this topic.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction.
- Materials and Methods
- The Novel "The House of God" by Samuel Shem
- Death Notices/ Obituaries
- Death in the Sample Obituaries in Contrast to the Novel.
- Data Collection and Results
- Collection of Samples from Contemporary Newspapers.
- Concordancer- Aided Analysis of “The House of God”
- pass/passing (of)/passed/passed away.
- loss (of)/ demise (of) ...
- death (of)/ death/death occurred/ died/ die...
- was killed/killed/ kill.
- Discussion and Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper aims to analyze how death and dying are represented in Samuel Shem’s novel "The House of God," comparing the language used in the novel to that found in contemporary obituaries. The study will examine the use of specific terminology related to death in both contexts and explore how the language employed in the novel reflects the unique environment of the hospital setting.
- Representation of death in the novel "The House of God."
- Comparison of terminology used in the novel and in contemporary obituaries.
- The impact of the hospital setting on language and attitudes towards death.
- The emotional and psychological impact of death on medical professionals.
- The portrayal of the hospital environment as a distinct social context.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introductory chapter provides an overview of the paper's objectives and methodology. It sets the stage for the analysis by discussing the role of death in the hospital environment, the unique challenges faced by healthcare professionals, and the importance of understanding how language reflects attitudes towards death.
The "Materials and Methods" section outlines the research approach, detailing the source material used in the study. This includes the novel "The House of God" by Samuel Shem, as well as a collection of contemporary obituaries.
The "Data Collection and Results" section describes the process of data collection and the analysis of the novel and obituaries. This includes an in-depth examination of the specific terminology used in both sources to represent death.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Key terms and concepts explored in this study include death-related terminology, medical language, social context, hospital setting, "The House of God" by Samuel Shem, obituaries, and language analysis.
- Citar trabajo
- Jan Stolzewski (Autor), 2013, How do Healthcare Professionals Cope with Death? Representations of Death-related Terminology in “The House of God” by Samuel Shem, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/302803
