- Mar 2018
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jaredgardner.org jaredgardner.org
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Because nurses have to watch him, now. Because, yesterday, the Son unplugged his Machine and watched silently as his life blood was pumped to the floor. And where was his Mother? His Mother was on her way to the library, that’s where, because her Son had said, ‘Go and find a job, a life of your own,’ that’s why. She was more than halfway there when she turned and sprinted back. She doesn’t know why
The son was so distraught at his condition that he tried to kill himself and sent his mother away to do a mundane task.
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I see them everywhere. You know? Not just in the hospital. Some of them are in disguise, but I can spot them. Like they have a little shiny outline round them, like in a game on a screen. They pixelate, Mum, they pixelate at me. Like: there, there, there. Shouldn’t really be here. You, you, you. Not really here. Me, me, me. Not-Dead.
I see this as someone who is sick is more able to recognize others that are sick.
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‘She should be dead,’ says the Son, ‘like in nature. I mean if that baby was born in a primitive tribe she’d be dead in seconds.’‘So would lots of people,’ says the Mother. ‘So would I.’‘I would,’ says the Son. ‘Definitely.’
This further clarifies what the "Not Dead" is. It is interesting to think about because by this definition, I would have been dead without the help of modern medicine.
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‘It’s a baby,’ says the Mother, crossly, ‘some-one’s baby.’
Her stern comment shows that even though it has some anomalies, it is still someone else's child
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‘A Not-Dead,’ says the Son. ‘Look. Under the window.’ Mother cranes round, then stands up briefly. She sees a baby sleeping in a plastic cot. It is wearing a pink woolly hat and cardigan and has oxygen tubes in its nose.
This gives us the first look at what a "Not Dead is". It is a very interesting choice of words to describe people that have medical issues.
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- Feb 2018
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jaredgardner.org jaredgardner.orgW;t2
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I also find the line "And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die" to also be very important. With death often being viewed as the ultimate end, it is interesting to think of death also dying (perhaps indication of an afterlife?)
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I find this line ironic when he states "I am waiting for the moment when someone asks me this questions and I am dead. I'm a little sorry I'll miss that". It is already bad enough when people ask those with chronic diseases how they are doing because everyone already knows the answer.
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