The Meaningful Dead

            Is it weird how when you are alive you might not have many friends, but once you die everyone has something nice to say about you? For example, you are the person in school that no one really pays attention to you, but when you die you are suddenly the topic everyone in school talks about. This is exactly what happened to the character, Esteban, in “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”. The character Esteban was forgotten and not liked by his village, but once they found out he was dead everyone in the village showed him respect.

            In the passage there are many examples of how the character, Esteban, was forgotten and how he was respected. For example, in the passage it says, “Esteban, at least wait till the coffee’s ready, were the ones who later on would whisper the big boob finally left, how nice the handsome fool has gone.” This shows us that his village did not treat him nicely.  After Esteban died  the villagers realized his beauty and strength. For example, in the passage it states, “But only when they had finished cleaning him off did they become aware of the kind of man he was and it left them breathless.”

            After reading this passage I realized this type of thing doesn’t just happen in stories it also happens in the real world. For example, everyday at school there are people that nobody talks to, but once they get hurt everyone goes up to them and says nice things to them. Another example is when someone in your town dies. It doesn’t matter if anybody knew them or not, people are still going to send the dead's family members casseroles and flowers, telling them how sorry they are.

           After reading the passage, “The handsomest Drowned Man In The World”, I have realized that it doesn’t matter if everyone hated you or not because once you die everyone will have something nice to say. This kind of thing is not new to the world it has been happening for ages. It has happened way back when my great grandparents were alive and it will continue to happen way in the future. The thing is there is no way to prevent it. Once people die everyone just thinks you have to be really nice to the dead even if you weren’t nice to them when they were alive.