Another prime example of accepting human mortality is showcased in the novel “Never Let Me Go” (2010) by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel is set in a dystopian world where cloning occurs for organ donations. The story is centered on a clone named Kathy whose teacher, Miss Lucy, informs them how terrible their lives will become once they are donors. “Never Let Me Go” tends to revolve around the dilemma of how to live a meaningful life while knowing you are going to die. Miss Lucy aptly summarizes this when she says “If you’re to live decent lives, you have to know who you are and what lies ahead of you, every one of you.” Miss Lucy is the kind of woman to focuses on her memories and views them as a life well lived. In this society of cloning and organ donations, she has constantly encouraged her students to lead fulfilling lives because death is a very near, and very possible, outcome.
The well-known theme of mortality pops up once again in “The Fault in Our Stars” (2012), a novel written by John Green, which was later produced as a movie. It is a moving tale about Hazel Grace, who has thyroid cancer and lives her life day by day. She meets Augustus Waters who brings her vitality back. Although both of them find joy in life through each other, they still think about everything in terms of how long they can survive. This is clearly seen when Hazel says “If I could just stay alive for a week, I'd know the unwritten secrets of Anna's mom and the Dutch Tulip Guy.” What this confirms is that due to her terminal illness, she is constantly aware of her mortality and that she doesn’t have very long to live. Augustus also portrays this trait when he “thought I [he] could arrange a pre-funeral…” Although this seems quite morbid, it is understandable that he would want to hear what Hazel and Isaac, his friend, have to say about him. All in all, John Green made sure that the book constantly brought up the theme of coming to terms with death and mortality, and how each person’s situation affects their decisions.
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Once we have come to terms with our mortality, the resulting crucial step lies in figuring out whether we continue our lives with integrity or despair. The road to integrity involves acceptance and looking forward to death as the next big experience, which is the case for Mr. Magorium in the movie “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” (2007). Edward Magorium is 243 years old and has seen things that we can only marvel at. After a long life well lived, Mr. Magorium equips Molly Mahoney with some important advice: “I'm only asking that you turn the page, continue reading... and let the next story begin.” Edward is a prime example of someone accepting that humans cannot live forever. After his numerous years on Earth, he encourages Molly to “relate my [his] life in all its wonder” so that he can peacefully “depart”. This level of wisdom was defined by Erikson as an “informed and detached concern with life itself even in the face of death itself” (Erikson, 1982).
A spooky and stylistic approach to the phenomenon that is ego integrity is the midnight story of “The Three Brothers” in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” (2007). We must especially focus on the third brother, Ignotus Peverrel. When the three brothers ‘cheated’ Death, they were each granted a gift of their choosing as a reward. Ignotus received a cloak when he asked to not be followed by Death for the rest of his life. Whilst his two brothers died of murder and suicide, Ignotus hid from Death for many years. When Ignotus felt that he had lived his life to the fullest, he shed his Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. He then “greeted Death as an old friend…departed this life as equals.” This is significant because it implies that Ignotus did not try to avoid Death, and did not have any regrets. Rather, he lived his life with integrity and only unveiled himself to Death when he was content that his life had been meaningful. In other terms, it means that Ignotus only accepted his death once he was satisfied with a life well lived, especially as he was gifted with a son to whom he could pass on the cloak.
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