Death Confrontation
The crowd roar, "LONG LIVE THE KING" when she announces that she found her father lying lifeless on his royal bed this morning. His entire body is blue, ice cold in touch, and stiff as a stick. The obvious reason for his majesty's current condition is one: Death.
Death is infamous and malicious. It always picks people randomly to be its target and suck dry their life until nothing is left but a hollow shell. Princess has tolerated Death's immoral action for all of these years, as her father considered any rebel action towards Death unnecessary. But when Death grabbed her father's life, after such generosity he offered, Princess just couldn't find any room for mercy anymore.
Her mother is forced on her knees by sorrow. She cannot stop sobbing as she faces the loss of her husband. The citizens, also possessed by grief, cannot believe they lost their leader unexpectedly. Their suspect is to live in awe of confusion from that moment on. His majesty doesn't have a male descendant, and Princess hasn't married anyone yet. That concludes the fear of the citizens to live a life unguided.
She always curses Death for the pain it causes throughout her society. She curses Death for making her father incapable to fight back, resulting her people in the suffering. There was a tremendous amount of strikes and protests by the citizens, as her father did nothing to fight Death. Her father told the citizens that Death is undefined; its physical whereabouts is well hidden. Thus, to act on pursuing it is foolish and pointless. Her father only advised the citizens to stay alert of Death's presence.
Princess believes that Death was threatened, as her father was able to look through its eyes. Death is also a coward being as it never shows itself and always attacks in silence. Princess already had had enough of all the sorrow it brought into the society. She will seek Death and she will stop its monstrous attacks.
"Mother dearest, Death might be a witch, Death might be a devil. But I am not afraid. I shall look for it, and I shall make it perish, so we could finally live at peace."
Her mother sank deeper into the ground when sorrow pinched her heart with no mercy. She ordered her daughter to stay and resolved the problem in the society together, but Princess refused. She doesn't want a marriage. She wants peace, she wants the truth.
---
As a young girl, it never occurred to anyone that Princess would require an armor suit. No woman ever wore an armor suit as no woman ever pursued a quest. She wishes to wear her father's suit, instead of creating her own. Her father's suit is so majestic, gleaming in silver light according to her eyes. She respected her father even more whenever he wore his noble suit. She always dreams of wearing the same suit, and being looked up to the way she looked up to her father. But when the day comes for her to wear it, the suit is too large for her tiny body. No blacksmith dare to remodel his majesty's royal apparel. Princess is absolutely devastated, but she has to go on with her quest, and in order to do that, she needs an armor suit. Thus, it leaves her no other choice but to wear her father's oversize suit.
On the day of her departure, all of the citizens gather around to see her off. She almost looks like her father, in his armor suit, complete with his helmet and shield, and on his horse. Only, she looks a lot smaller. Her ego is big enough to makes her fit into her father's attire, and her bravery helped her get on the horse. Her father's sword clings onto her thigh. She feels it dangling heavily, making her almost unbalanced.
"I shan't be guarded; my father's attire is enough. I shan't be followed, your prayer and trust is enough."As she rides off, none of the citizens cheer or speak.
Princess is constantly having serious troubles throughout her journey. As her father's armor suit is too big for her, it keeps clanking all over the place, and makes it uncomfortable for her to ride. Her limbs are difficult to move, making it difficult to lead the horse. It results in the horse's confusion of which way it should go. Princess keeps on leading it to the wrong way, and the horse starts to get annoyed at having her on its back. Her father's sword and his shield become an addition to her frustration. They are too heavy for both her and the horse to carry. Not only does it make the horse walks unbalanced, it also makes the horse develop fatigue fast. The helmet is the most annoying as it always slides off her head, and she has to hold it so it won't fall off. Princess has to take rest numerous times, so she can take off her father's troublesome attire before she puts it on again when the horse get its stamina back.
Princess rides deeper and deeper through the forest. At the edge of her patience, she finally sees a figure of a little girl from afar. As Princess approaches her, she gets a clearer vision of the child. Princess can see that the child's eyes are hollow. She carries a stick, and there are a bunch of skulls attached to it by a string each. Some of them are laughing, some of them just clatter. Princess can tell immediately that the child is Death.
How funny, when a pity feeling tickles her heart. Death as she imagined would not become this innocent. Death as she imagined would not make her think twice to slay. How could a child this young, Princess thinks, create such misfortune? Princess doesn't dare to unsheathe her father's sword. Instead, she questions the child for her reason.
"You caused a whole lot of trouble in my society. Why did you take my father's life?"
The child looks up to her, not in a way she wants to be looked up to.
"Because it was his time."
"But he is The King."
"His time is due."
"But he is my father."
"My action is inevitable. I cannot control who or when I should take a life."
"But your action is brutal and monstrous. You cause pain to others. You need to stop."
"I have no intention to hurt anybody. If your vision could surpass your ego, you would see that there is no real peace without death."
The more Princess looks at the child, the more she finds the similarities between them. Death is just like Princess, only with a younger figure, according to her. With a white dress robe, a hair band around her head, with her hair knotted into a loose braid. The child is barefoot, yet her feet are pink and smooth. Suddenly her father's armor suit feels very unsuitable for her, nor his sword, his helmet, his shield and horse. Princess drops her guard and stops arguing with Death. What should be done is what her mother said to her: rebuild the society. And what her father said about pursuing Death is always right: it is futile.
Princess turns around, leaving Death to do what she should do. It is Death's job to take life, as it is our job to live.
Her journey back home is surprisingly easy. Her father's armor suit suddenly fits her, as if her body has grown to fit it. She then could move freely and easily, just like when she is wearing her favorite dress robe. The helmet also fits perfectly on her head, so it doesn't slide off anymore. The shield is light as a feather, so does the sword. She can easily guide her father's horse too, that results a friendly cooperation from it. The journey becomes joy to her, and the horse starts to gallops. It seems it is also cannot wait to arrive home.
She arrives home in the same style when her father was arriving back from a war. Pride and glory surrounds her. People start to gather around her as they catch a glimpse of her arrival. They are all smiling, expecting great news from her return. But when Princess doesn't smile even though her mother already joins the crowd, all citizens erase their smiles.
"My dear people, I am afraid to say that I failed to slay Death."
There are whispers, then a loud murmur spread throughout the crowd. They are clearly disappointed. Not only on how irresponsible their princess has been, but also how weak she has become. She already abandoned them when they are in need of guidance the most. The least she could do is finish her task and slay Death to bring relief in the society. One person that seems to be smiling is her mother. She cannot help to feel very proud of her daughter who didn't develop her anger into revenge. In her eyes, her daughter not only has grown to become very brave, but also to become very wise. But that doesn't matter, as hundreds of other people are disapproving Princess' action.
"You women never do anything right!"
"Go back to your quest and don't come back until you are succeeded!"
"Hurry up, marry someone and give us a king!"
"SILENCE!" Princess roars.
No one dared to speak and they surprisingly found a resemblance to her father.
"I didn't fail on slaying Death, I didn't want to slay Death." There are murmurs throughout the crowd again.
"Death is not a monstrous being, she is innocent. Death is a child and she is kind. She attacks in silence in order to not create any panic. She tries not to warn as she doesn't want us to be haunted. But we should do our best to alert, but not to fight. My father is right, we shall let Death be."
The murmurs of the crowd grow softer, as Princess mention about her father.
"I completely understand that you are desperate for a leader. My father was a great king; my two eyes can see that too. His death is unexpected, sank us all into deep grief. I cannot give you a great king like him. Instead, I will try to be a great Queen so you may not sink deeper into grief. I shall remind you what a good leader is like. I am his daughter, and even though I am a woman, I shall make you proud until you will cheer my name on the day Death grasp my life!"
No one speaks. No one agrees, and no one refuses. But Princess understands that her people have given her a second chance. At that moment, her father's suit suddenly feels heavy on her shoulder. Even though, she believes that her body will adjust to its weight just like when her body adjusted to its size.
"Long live The Queen."
A person in the crowd suddenly cheers for her
"Long live the Queen."
followed by another few
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
until all of them join, cheering her again and again.
That one support helps her lift some weight on her shoulder.
---
Appendix
My story is inspired by Harry Potter's storyline and some aspects it has in the book,
Mendlesohn (2004, p. 181) mentions in her essay that, "The structure of J.K Rowling's books is predicated upon a status quo and a formal understanding of authority in which hierarchal structures are a given". It is because how Harry who is a Potter and Dumbledore are the oldest families existed in the wizardry world, have the authority to make a decision.
In my story, the authority is the king, who at the beginning of the story has passed. And that makes his people feel lost, and has nowhere to go as their authority figure has lost. This is portrayed when Dumbledore is away in Order of Phoenix (2008) and causes chaos in Hogwarts.
Boucher (2010, p. 2) mentions in his lecture notes that, "the fundamental action is not the 'external' one of the series of magical tests but the 'internal' development of Harry's psychological preparedness for the final confrontation with Voldemort". In my opinion, the Harry Potter books are about Harry's journey and how he becomes mature and not get so self involved as he is one figure everyone look up to. He also needs to understand surpass his anger and his urge to take revenge when he assumed that Sirius Black is Voldemort's ally (Prisoner of Azkaban).
In my story, I also tried to portray that part and make Princess be able to understand that Death is inevitable and can strike anybody. She has to learn to accept death, without becoming engulfed by any anger that could turn into revenge. Her morality is also challenged when she finds that Death is an innocent little girl who reminded her to her childhood figure. She would be challenged to slay Death to avenge her father's death, or not because Death is innocent, inevitable, and part of life.
Mendlesohn also mentioned in her essay that, " twice the Slytherins are the victims of miscarriages of justice clothed in the language of fairness". In Sorcerer's Stone (1997), Slytherin loses the House Cup because Dumbledore awarded extra points to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry also constantly blamed Snape for taking the stone even though he actually took part to help secure the stone.
In my story, I also would like to show how unfair Princess and other people judge Death. They thought that Death is some monstrous creature who attacked randomly. And they also assume that Death is a coward as she attacked in silence, and never show herself n public. But in the end, I revealed how Death is kind as she attacked in silence as she didn't want to haunt anyone, and she didn't attacked random people, she took life when that person's time is due.
Boucher (2010, page 5) also mentioned in the ALW374 study guide, that "the importance of learning the truth before acting irrevocably and the crucial role of mercy in substantive justice, is shadowed by the series' over-arching theme, Harry's relation to his parents, especially his father." It is shown how attached Harry was with his dad in Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), especially when he tried to perform a patronus spell. He constantly thought that he saw his father performed that spell to protect him, but later on he found out that it was himself.
In my story, I also tried to portray that, as Princess was very attached to her dad, and she always looked up to him, not just because he is the king, but also because he is a noble leader in her eyes. She wanted to wear her dad's armor suit as she embarked on her journey, so that she would become as noble as her dad. But in the end, she realized (as the armor suit suddenly fits her body) that she also has the power to be superior, not by imitating her dad.
Death is infamous and malicious. It always picks people randomly to be its target and suck dry their life until nothing is left but a hollow shell. Princess has tolerated Death's immoral action for all of these years, as her father considered any rebel action towards Death unnecessary. But when Death grabbed her father's life, after such generosity he offered, Princess just couldn't find any room for mercy anymore.
Her mother is forced on her knees by sorrow. She cannot stop sobbing as she faces the loss of her husband. The citizens, also possessed by grief, cannot believe they lost their leader unexpectedly. Their suspect is to live in awe of confusion from that moment on. His majesty doesn't have a male descendant, and Princess hasn't married anyone yet. That concludes the fear of the citizens to live a life unguided.
She always curses Death for the pain it causes throughout her society. She curses Death for making her father incapable to fight back, resulting her people in the suffering. There was a tremendous amount of strikes and protests by the citizens, as her father did nothing to fight Death. Her father told the citizens that Death is undefined; its physical whereabouts is well hidden. Thus, to act on pursuing it is foolish and pointless. Her father only advised the citizens to stay alert of Death's presence.
Princess believes that Death was threatened, as her father was able to look through its eyes. Death is also a coward being as it never shows itself and always attacks in silence. Princess already had had enough of all the sorrow it brought into the society. She will seek Death and she will stop its monstrous attacks.
"Mother dearest, Death might be a witch, Death might be a devil. But I am not afraid. I shall look for it, and I shall make it perish, so we could finally live at peace."
Her mother sank deeper into the ground when sorrow pinched her heart with no mercy. She ordered her daughter to stay and resolved the problem in the society together, but Princess refused. She doesn't want a marriage. She wants peace, she wants the truth.
---
As a young girl, it never occurred to anyone that Princess would require an armor suit. No woman ever wore an armor suit as no woman ever pursued a quest. She wishes to wear her father's suit, instead of creating her own. Her father's suit is so majestic, gleaming in silver light according to her eyes. She respected her father even more whenever he wore his noble suit. She always dreams of wearing the same suit, and being looked up to the way she looked up to her father. But when the day comes for her to wear it, the suit is too large for her tiny body. No blacksmith dare to remodel his majesty's royal apparel. Princess is absolutely devastated, but she has to go on with her quest, and in order to do that, she needs an armor suit. Thus, it leaves her no other choice but to wear her father's oversize suit.
On the day of her departure, all of the citizens gather around to see her off. She almost looks like her father, in his armor suit, complete with his helmet and shield, and on his horse. Only, she looks a lot smaller. Her ego is big enough to makes her fit into her father's attire, and her bravery helped her get on the horse. Her father's sword clings onto her thigh. She feels it dangling heavily, making her almost unbalanced.
"I shan't be guarded; my father's attire is enough. I shan't be followed, your prayer and trust is enough."As she rides off, none of the citizens cheer or speak.
Princess is constantly having serious troubles throughout her journey. As her father's armor suit is too big for her, it keeps clanking all over the place, and makes it uncomfortable for her to ride. Her limbs are difficult to move, making it difficult to lead the horse. It results in the horse's confusion of which way it should go. Princess keeps on leading it to the wrong way, and the horse starts to get annoyed at having her on its back. Her father's sword and his shield become an addition to her frustration. They are too heavy for both her and the horse to carry. Not only does it make the horse walks unbalanced, it also makes the horse develop fatigue fast. The helmet is the most annoying as it always slides off her head, and she has to hold it so it won't fall off. Princess has to take rest numerous times, so she can take off her father's troublesome attire before she puts it on again when the horse get its stamina back.
Princess rides deeper and deeper through the forest. At the edge of her patience, she finally sees a figure of a little girl from afar. As Princess approaches her, she gets a clearer vision of the child. Princess can see that the child's eyes are hollow. She carries a stick, and there are a bunch of skulls attached to it by a string each. Some of them are laughing, some of them just clatter. Princess can tell immediately that the child is Death.
How funny, when a pity feeling tickles her heart. Death as she imagined would not become this innocent. Death as she imagined would not make her think twice to slay. How could a child this young, Princess thinks, create such misfortune? Princess doesn't dare to unsheathe her father's sword. Instead, she questions the child for her reason.
"You caused a whole lot of trouble in my society. Why did you take my father's life?"
The child looks up to her, not in a way she wants to be looked up to.
"Because it was his time."
"But he is The King."
"His time is due."
"But he is my father."
"My action is inevitable. I cannot control who or when I should take a life."
"But your action is brutal and monstrous. You cause pain to others. You need to stop."
"I have no intention to hurt anybody. If your vision could surpass your ego, you would see that there is no real peace without death."
The more Princess looks at the child, the more she finds the similarities between them. Death is just like Princess, only with a younger figure, according to her. With a white dress robe, a hair band around her head, with her hair knotted into a loose braid. The child is barefoot, yet her feet are pink and smooth. Suddenly her father's armor suit feels very unsuitable for her, nor his sword, his helmet, his shield and horse. Princess drops her guard and stops arguing with Death. What should be done is what her mother said to her: rebuild the society. And what her father said about pursuing Death is always right: it is futile.
Princess turns around, leaving Death to do what she should do. It is Death's job to take life, as it is our job to live.
Her journey back home is surprisingly easy. Her father's armor suit suddenly fits her, as if her body has grown to fit it. She then could move freely and easily, just like when she is wearing her favorite dress robe. The helmet also fits perfectly on her head, so it doesn't slide off anymore. The shield is light as a feather, so does the sword. She can easily guide her father's horse too, that results a friendly cooperation from it. The journey becomes joy to her, and the horse starts to gallops. It seems it is also cannot wait to arrive home.
She arrives home in the same style when her father was arriving back from a war. Pride and glory surrounds her. People start to gather around her as they catch a glimpse of her arrival. They are all smiling, expecting great news from her return. But when Princess doesn't smile even though her mother already joins the crowd, all citizens erase their smiles.
"My dear people, I am afraid to say that I failed to slay Death."
There are whispers, then a loud murmur spread throughout the crowd. They are clearly disappointed. Not only on how irresponsible their princess has been, but also how weak she has become. She already abandoned them when they are in need of guidance the most. The least she could do is finish her task and slay Death to bring relief in the society. One person that seems to be smiling is her mother. She cannot help to feel very proud of her daughter who didn't develop her anger into revenge. In her eyes, her daughter not only has grown to become very brave, but also to become very wise. But that doesn't matter, as hundreds of other people are disapproving Princess' action.
"You women never do anything right!"
"Go back to your quest and don't come back until you are succeeded!"
"Hurry up, marry someone and give us a king!"
"SILENCE!" Princess roars.
No one dared to speak and they surprisingly found a resemblance to her father.
"I didn't fail on slaying Death, I didn't want to slay Death." There are murmurs throughout the crowd again.
"Death is not a monstrous being, she is innocent. Death is a child and she is kind. She attacks in silence in order to not create any panic. She tries not to warn as she doesn't want us to be haunted. But we should do our best to alert, but not to fight. My father is right, we shall let Death be."
The murmurs of the crowd grow softer, as Princess mention about her father.
"I completely understand that you are desperate for a leader. My father was a great king; my two eyes can see that too. His death is unexpected, sank us all into deep grief. I cannot give you a great king like him. Instead, I will try to be a great Queen so you may not sink deeper into grief. I shall remind you what a good leader is like. I am his daughter, and even though I am a woman, I shall make you proud until you will cheer my name on the day Death grasp my life!"
No one speaks. No one agrees, and no one refuses. But Princess understands that her people have given her a second chance. At that moment, her father's suit suddenly feels heavy on her shoulder. Even though, she believes that her body will adjust to its weight just like when her body adjusted to its size.
"Long live The Queen."
A person in the crowd suddenly cheers for her
"Long live the Queen."
followed by another few
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"
until all of them join, cheering her again and again.
That one support helps her lift some weight on her shoulder.
---
Appendix
My story is inspired by Harry Potter's storyline and some aspects it has in the book,
Mendlesohn (2004, p. 181) mentions in her essay that, "The structure of J.K Rowling's books is predicated upon a status quo and a formal understanding of authority in which hierarchal structures are a given". It is because how Harry who is a Potter and Dumbledore are the oldest families existed in the wizardry world, have the authority to make a decision.
In my story, the authority is the king, who at the beginning of the story has passed. And that makes his people feel lost, and has nowhere to go as their authority figure has lost. This is portrayed when Dumbledore is away in Order of Phoenix (2008) and causes chaos in Hogwarts.
Boucher (2010, p. 2) mentions in his lecture notes that, "the fundamental action is not the 'external' one of the series of magical tests but the 'internal' development of Harry's psychological preparedness for the final confrontation with Voldemort". In my opinion, the Harry Potter books are about Harry's journey and how he becomes mature and not get so self involved as he is one figure everyone look up to. He also needs to understand surpass his anger and his urge to take revenge when he assumed that Sirius Black is Voldemort's ally (Prisoner of Azkaban).
In my story, I also tried to portray that part and make Princess be able to understand that Death is inevitable and can strike anybody. She has to learn to accept death, without becoming engulfed by any anger that could turn into revenge. Her morality is also challenged when she finds that Death is an innocent little girl who reminded her to her childhood figure. She would be challenged to slay Death to avenge her father's death, or not because Death is innocent, inevitable, and part of life.
Mendlesohn also mentioned in her essay that, " twice the Slytherins are the victims of miscarriages of justice clothed in the language of fairness". In Sorcerer's Stone (1997), Slytherin loses the House Cup because Dumbledore awarded extra points to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry also constantly blamed Snape for taking the stone even though he actually took part to help secure the stone.
In my story, I also would like to show how unfair Princess and other people judge Death. They thought that Death is some monstrous creature who attacked randomly. And they also assume that Death is a coward as she attacked in silence, and never show herself n public. But in the end, I revealed how Death is kind as she attacked in silence as she didn't want to haunt anyone, and she didn't attacked random people, she took life when that person's time is due.
Boucher (2010, page 5) also mentioned in the ALW374 study guide, that "the importance of learning the truth before acting irrevocably and the crucial role of mercy in substantive justice, is shadowed by the series' over-arching theme, Harry's relation to his parents, especially his father." It is shown how attached Harry was with his dad in Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), especially when he tried to perform a patronus spell. He constantly thought that he saw his father performed that spell to protect him, but later on he found out that it was himself.
In my story, I also tried to portray that, as Princess was very attached to her dad, and she always looked up to him, not just because he is the king, but also because he is a noble leader in her eyes. She wanted to wear her dad's armor suit as she embarked on her journey, so that she would become as noble as her dad. But in the end, she realized (as the armor suit suddenly fits her body) that she also has the power to be superior, not by imitating her dad.