A Comparison between Dokter dan Maut and A Christmas Carol

Introduction

This discussion is based on two works of Navis' short story (2002, pp. 1-24) and Charles Dickens' novel (first published 1843). Both works tell the phenomenon of death and how people face the angel of death. I chose these stories with the intention of comparing the way of looking at the same theme from a different background, namely cultural and religious background. The first story was written by an Indonesian Muslim man and the second by a British Christian person. This comparison is a basis for finding differences in using metaphors and deriving diverse meanings from them. For this reason, the discussion is focused on the metaphors of death (Navis, p.14-18).

Death is a mystery of life. People have different ways of looking at death. From a religious point of view, death is a life circle differently phrased in each religion. Death cannot be avoided by people because it is an obligatory consequence of human life. People also have different interpretations of the death phenomenon. This difference is based on the culture, religion, or environment which influences the people's frame of mind. For example, Hindus think that death is a phase of change for the soul to achieve a better place, called nirvana. So, death is just a step to rebirth, after which the soul finds a better life according to Hindu teachings. Good deeds are as a condition for the soul of entering nirvana based on Hindu teaching.

As a real life phenomenon in literary works, death is still an interesting theme worth of exploring. An interesting phenomenon is the exploration of death in the literary works with war being the theme and setting. Many people got injured or died in wars. But many authors wrote literary works based on these wars, and we as readers are interested in these works. One of the short stories compiled in AA. Navis' A Cow Asks the Cart (2002) is entitled Doctor and Death. The story narrates a dying Doctor and the situation around his family, showing their attitudes and the family members' reaction to his properties after his death. The story begins when one day the Doctor comes home from his hospital. He sees his families are crying and does not know why. He does not realize what is going on in his house and why people are talking as if he is already dead (Chambert & Reid, p.18-20).

A person pays him a visit, the angel of death. He introduces himself as a patient of the Doctor who was cured by him several years ago. He invites the Doctor to go around and look at what his family does. Later he knows what his family has planned to his properties and heritage. His family has some plans for their own interests. The Doctor understands that he is really dying and the person at his side is the angel of death. Having known what is happening around him, he chooses to get into afterlife, ...