Death in Every Mna

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And defer* this matter till another day.” “Everyman, it may not be, by no way. I set* not by gold, silver, nor riches, Ne* by pope, emperor, king, duke, ne princes.” (Everyman 123-126). The author also shows that not even Death knows when the time will come for mankind to take that long pilgrimage to stand before God in final judgment.

The author’s treatment of Death is as a secondary figure to God. This is quite contrary to mankind’s belief, where man sees death as something to avoid and plead with God to have death not visit them. But as we have seen Death is only the messenger from God and only does His bidding and though man lives in sin and knows his sinful nature, when the time comes to be judged man will always try to find someone or something to blame for his transgressions and then is surprised as to how sudden Death will come. “Although one may “know” of this limit from early on in one’s life, death can still appear unexpectedly. If a series of reincarnations on Earth is not posited, death is always substantially unexpected in that the human being has never had that experience personally and hence cannot truly know what is coming (Anastaplo, G. (2009). Death is also treated as a natural passage of the earthly life a man has and it is viewed as the way to either heaven or hell. The author also uses death as a tool which all mankind can use to turn from their sinful way, when man is faced with death and all he has is God to turn to after everything and everyone has turned their back on him, God is there waiting for us to repent and atone.

IV. Conclusion

In conclusion, Everyman is a play which uses allegorical characters to let the audience know that mankind cannot escape death no matter how poor or rich he is. It also shows that all the worldly possessions a man have can none of those will follow him into the journey that we must take in order to receive God’s final judgement. The play lets the audience know that although we may have accomplished good deeds in our lifetime that alone is not sufficient to get one to heaven and one must make amends before the final journey for once that journey is taken there is no going back to try and fix things or complete more good deed. “For after death amends may no man make, for then mercy and pity doth he forsake? If his reckoning be not clear when he doth come, God will say: ‘Item, maledict, in gem sternum (Everyman 915-918). The Bible say so as well. “He will reply, ‘truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:45-46 NIV) And in the end the author tells us that ultimately God is in control of everything in this life and is not happy when mankind does not follow and gives thanks to all that he has given man. God has also instructed that no man id to cheat death. “For it is God’s commandment. That all to me should be obedient. (Everyman 117-118).

Works Cited

1. Unknown author, Everyman

2. Bible; New International Version

3. Adu-Gyamfi, Yaw, and Mark Ray Schmidt. "Everyman." Literature and Spirituality.

4. Anastaplo, G. (2009) Resurrection and Death in Everyman. (pp. 25–30). University Press of Kentucky.

5. Paulson, J. (2007). Death’s Arrival and "Everyman’s" Separation. Theater Survey

6. Morality Play. (2010,). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia

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