Elegy for my Father who is not Dead

The central purpose (question 6) of this poem is to contrast two possible concepts of death and the possibility of a life after. First, there is the father, who takes an optimistic approach to this entire concept. He is fully prepared to die. This stems from his belief that there is an afterlife where he will see his son and all of his loved ones. Therefore, he has the mentality that this current life is not all that there is, and he has no trouble letting go of it. He is sure that he will see his son again after he, too, passes away, which is evident from the boat analogy. The father will be there to welcome his son, just as the son was there to send off the father. However, the son takes a different approach. He is not at all ready to lose his father. This stems from his own belief that there is not anything after life, or at least not an afterlife that involves a reunion of friends and family. Rather, he views death as the end all be all, the final curtain, end of the line, [insert cliché here]. He is not ready for his father's life to end, because he believes that life is all there is to existence, and once it's over, one ceases to exist. This is evident in his belief of the ship analogy, in that the ship does not reach some nice pleasant shore, but simply sinks, and is no more. This contrast between the father's views and the son's views ultimately serves to contrast the afterlife concept of most major religions with the world-based view of atheism.

But more importantly, "End of the Line" is totally a Metallica song, and I'd say it's about time we put them up on that playlist.

Metallica ruuules