[One Thousand Characters a Day] 'Sentences of Mourning' for the End of Life <2>

Editor's NoteThe question that begins with the abstraction of "What is death?" crosses the boundaries of science, philosophy, the species called human, and culture, delving into the root of the fear that death emits. As intellectuals of the time like Goethe and Susan Sontag showed their tenacity in the face of death, and as the adage "Knowledge of death can only be gained within death" reminds us, the fear of death ultimately stems from the 'unknown.' Sentences of Mourning speaks of death beyond pathology and anatomy, and mourning beyond psychology and sociology. In doing so, it gently awakens us to respond to this inevitability that will one day come to me by chance, not with helpless resignation but with free will. Word count: 1068.

Honestly, when you deeply contemplate death, you may become depressed and your everyday peace may be shaken. The moment you realize that death is an absolute reality that will come to you, a person is seized by great shock and fear. However, when one does not avoid this but accepts it as their own and reflects on it, they can gain a new perspective and achieve remarkable accomplishments.

The ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, written about 4,000 years ago, is famous as the oldest existing poetic literature. The main motif of this work is death. Gilgamesh was a legendary king who ruled the Sumerian city-state of Uruk around the 28th century BCE, and this epic narrates his long journey in search of immortality. Just as Emperor Qin Shi Huang sought the elixir of life, Gilgamesh also set out to find the path to immortality, triggered by the death of his friend Enkidu. Shocked by witnessing Enkidu's painful death, Gilgamesh embarked on a long journey toward immortality, and this story influenced many myths and legends, including the Genesis of the Old Testament, for thousands of years. The reason this work has been loved for so long is likely because everyone deeply empathized with the terrifying fate that even a hero like Gilgamesh could not avoid.

Modern people are no different in suffering over the mortal fate and expressing it through art. Edvard Munch, the painter famous for The Scream, lost his mother and sister in childhood and was tormented by the fear of death throughout his life. He continuously transferred this pain onto his canvases until the day he died. Numerous works such as The Scream, The Dead Mother, Anxiety, and Self-Portrait in the Underworld are the fruits of this. The reason people like his works, which vividly express pain, is probably because they see their own anxiety reflected there. They find deep empathy and comfort in realizing they are not the only ones suffering.

Maurice Sendak, considered the greatest picture book author of the 20th century, was also aware of death from an early age due to a gloomy family environment and frequent illnesses. He painted scenes whenever family members died and collected death-related items such as poet John Keats's death mask. When people think of children's picture books, they often imagine bright and beautiful stories, but he sublimated the fears he felt as a child and expressed them through his illustrations.

－Kim Ikyeong, Sentences of Mourning, Seohae Munjip, 14,000 KRW