A Fine and Private Place

Kimberly Ziccardi
Spring Grove Colloquium
Hunley, Marcha
27 August 2009

A Fine and Private Place

The novel “A fine and Private Place” explores the conflicting theme of both life and death. Although it is clear that death is eminent throughout the novel, much about life is explored through the experience of death. Michael and Laura for instance both passed away and although dead, continuously hold onto the sensations and emotions felt when alive. The uncomfortable feeling of the unknown has trapped them into this mindset of holding onto everything known when alive. Through this they try to hold onto the abilities and characteristics needed in order to be considered alive such as speaking and desperately try to preserve their memory and past experiences. They go through an ongoing struggle of not wanting to let go of what has always been comfortable to them. Mr. Rebeck also struggles with this. Although he himself is alive, living in the cemetery for nineteen years has caused him to seriously become detached from the outside world and life in general. He spends his days playing endless hours of chest with ghosts and wasting time walking around an empty cemetery. He has completely shut himself off from the outside world and acts as if he wants nothing to do with the living. Furthermore, having a mausoleum as a home, he seems to have already marked his grave.

Fear also seems to be a large factor when considering the behavior of the characters. Fear of the unknown has lead both Michael and Laura fighting to keep past memories present and knowledge acquired while living up to date. They struggle to accept the inevitable death has to bring them. Sounds aren’t going to sound the same because there is no necessity for hearing anything anymore when dead. They struggle to understand that with death brings change. They continue to talk even though many are unable to hear them for fear of not being able to. The fear of the unknown has bound them into a never ending challenge of staying alive. Mr. Rebeck on the other hand had the opposite problem with fear. He fears actually living because of the potential pain human interaction brings. He has completely isolated himself from the rest of the population on the basis of the unknown as well. He is fearful that people will harm and hurt him emotionally. Thankfully Mr. Klapper came along and helped him realize that there isn’t much to be afraid of. She showed him that there are good people in the world and this began Mr. Rebecks turn to actually living.

Love also seems to be eminent in the novel. Fear of not having love in their lives anymore and of never being loved again brought Michael and Laura together. It was clear that while alive neither had great experiences with love which leads me to believe that neither fully grasped the concept of love. Michael was in a failing and miserable marriage although in denial most of the time and Laura had never really been in love. There love came about quickly and out of necessity to once again hold onto the known emotions and way life used to be like. Now that they are dead and unable to truly feel what love is they try to hold onto the last remnants of the true and happy love they did experience and share it with each other. Being dead was scary and having someone else there brought comfort.

The Raven seems to be the only one who knows the difference and is clearly able to distinguish between life and death. He is certainly the most animated character in the story and cleary understands the meaning of life, the up’s and downs that come with it and actually lives. Although not the most sensitive character, his compassion is clearly shown through his responsibility to care for Mr. Rebeck. He spends his life serving and taking care of Mr. Rebeck in order to fulfill the preconceived notion that this is his purpose in life. Everything Mr. Rebeck has and eats and all of his entertainment comes from the Raven’s hard work and dedication. The Raven essentially keeps Mr. Rebeck physically alive even though, clearly he has been mentally dead for many years. Even Mr. Klapper seems to at times struggle with life and leave the notions associated with being alive behind. She spends her much of her time in her home and at the cemetery visiting her husband, feeling guilty for her last words spoken to him. Furthermore, it seems she has a skewed view of what was important to her husband. She spent a lot of money on a big mausoleum for her husband thinking that’s what he would have wanted to be remembered by and it turned out, it’s not what he wanted at all.

Throughout the novel life and death are mysteriously interconnected. The living struggled with what life had to offer and the dead struggled with what death had to bring. No one likes change, and many do whatever they can to grasp what is comfortable to them. People live their whole lives chasing peace from within which becomes a never ending task in itself. Once dead, one has the ability to truly experience peace of mind and body and a cemetery is the perfect fine and private to do it at. This novel teaches us to never take anything for granted and to always cherish the moments spent a live.