THE DENIAL OF DEATH

The Denial of Death, written by Ernest Becker, was first published in 1973 and
was awarded the 1974 Pulitzer prize posthumously for general nonfiction (The
Pulitzer Prizes, 2016; Ernest Becker Foundation, 2016). According to the Ernest
Becker Foundation, Becker was devoted wholeheartedly throughout his academic
career to one question alone, what makes people act the way they do? (Liechty,
2016). The Denial of Death and its sister text Escape from Evil go some way to
answering this question. It was during Beckers final academic post at Simon
Fraser University where he wrote The Denial of Death, less than a year after its
publication in early 1974, Becker died of cancer (Liechty, 2016).
Becker opens this book with a notion of the inevitable death of a human being as
motivation to be productive. Activity to prolong life, or, just to forget about
death. As, he suggests, in his preface, the:
primitives often celebrate death [] because they believe that death is
the ultimate promotion, the final ritual elevation to a higher form of life, to
the enjoyment of eternity in some from (Becker, 1973: XVII).
Further, he continues, stating that
most modern Westerners have trouble believing this any more, which is
what makes the fear of death so prominent a part of our psychological
makeup (Becker, 1973: XVII).
We know that Becker was a religious man from Jewish decent and that following
his military training he served in the infantry and helped to liberate a Nazi
concentration camp (Liechty, 2016). Yet, in the above quote he suggests that
the lack of celebration and the lack of belief in an afterlife anymore has led to a
rise in the fear of death. With the rise of atheism and agnosticism, so too arises
the fear of death.
It is Beckers opinion that death is ultimately reconciled with heroism. Moreover,
the greatest level of admiration that we can hold is the courage to face death
(Becker, 1973: 11). It is suggested that this courage is admired so much as the
viewer in some way is unable to imagine themselves enacting it. In a different
vain though the hero is also described as the man who could go into the spirit
world, the world of the dead, and return alive (Becker, 1973: 12). The previous
quote provides a key entry point for discussions around the zombie, the monster,
and for the notion of being human in the world of monsters. For, I argue, that the
characters which we see in popular culture who are living in the midst of the
zombie apocalypse (such as The Walking Dead) are in fact the men and women
in the world of the dead who are alive. In some way can we view the characters
in these cultural artefacts as an interpretation of the divine hero.
Two ways of viewing the human understanding of death are outlined in the
second chapter of Beckers text. He refers to these as (1) the healthy-minded
argument and (2) the morbidly-minded argument (Becker, 1973: 13-15). In such
a vein these two positions take opposing views to one key question: is the fear of
death inherent to humanity? Those which class themselves as healthy-minded
would suggest that this is not the case and it is learnt, whilst those inclined to
morbidity would suggest that humankinds fear of death is inherent to their

nature. Either way, both of these mind-sets rely on repression as a method to

alleviate the fear of death (Becker, 1973: 24). For, without this alleviation, death
would consume humanity.
From here Becker moves to discuss some basic psychoanalytic principles.
Lingering on the notion that man is paradoxical in nature as half animal and half
symbolic (Becker, 1973: 26). This paradox, which is further referred to as
individuality within finitude (loc. cit.) suggests that fact that the human is an
animal sits in absolute juxtaposition with way in which humanity is self-reflexive
and capable of abstract thought. But at the same time the human is self-reflexive
man is [also] a worm and food for the worms (loc. cit.). But, due to humanity
repressing the fear of death, everything that man does in his symbolic world is
an attempt to deny and overcome his grotesque fate (Becker, 1973: 27). As
Becker suggests the ultimate monstrosity of humanity is that beauty and selfreflexivity are intertwined with decay and base animal functions.
In such ways man struggles with the heroism discussed above, as the very
nature of humanity cowardly. Cowardly, in essence, because
all our meanings are built into us from the outside, from our dealings with
others. [] Our whole world of right and wrong [] precisely who we are,
is grafted into use; and we never feel we have the authority to offer things
of our own (Becker, 1973: 48).
In this sense having a lack of power to create ones own self leads to man not
only to fear death, but also to fear life itself. Becker notes that at birth the human
being is transported into a world both of terror and wonder. In such a way one of
the first things a child has to do is to learn to abandon ecstasy, to do without
awe, to leave fear and trembling behind (Becker, 1973: 55). As, through the
abandonment of pleasure, and understanding, one also encases the fears of both
life and death. Through this repression and focusing on just a small segment of
reality the human being is able to forge identity and self-worth, whilst at the
same time repressing the deep set anxiety of death.
The poet Alexander Smith knew of the proximity of death. In his essay Of death
and the fear of dying he comments
Utter the sentence [man is mortal] gravely in any company, and you are
certain to provoke laughter. And yet some subtle recognition of the fact of
death runs constantly through the warp and woof of the most ordinary
human existence. [] The spectre has the most cunning disguises, and
often when near us we are unaware of the fact of proximity (Smith, 1863:
3).
The need for all of this repression though is centred on one the central paradox
discussed above. The death of the human being reminds them that they are but
animal. But, in some ways, this repression mechanism on which culture is built,
a repression unique to the self-conscious animal (Becker, 1973: 96).
A key notion of Freuds which Becker spends considerably time underlining is that
of man as a herd animal, moreover the way in which a horde animal is led by a
chief (Becker, 1973: 132). The horde in this instance are not overcome with
repression as they have a heroic figure to concentrate upon, therefore replacing
a previous god with a charismatic leader. The leader, in this regard, paints the

world as not being the gruelling and torturous place it is, but provides untruths
to the masses, though which, they can continue as a society. In the same vein
acts which are carried out by the collective which could be considered barbarous
are not placed on the consciences of the collective because they have been
sanctioned by the leader. Becker here uses the infamous example of the
followers of Charles Manson, his family, who lived in servitude to their leader
(Becker, 1973: 137-8). This is what Becker refers to as cheap heroism (Becker,
1973: 139), in the sense that those embroiled in the servitude of the leader in
essence are acting out the leaders goals rather than their own.
In a similar vein to the role of the leader of chief, is the method whereby a god is
replaced with another human, a love interest. Through this fulfilment of ones life
is enacted through the love partner becom[ing] the divine ideal (Becker, 1973:
160). Moreover, Becker, quoting Otto Rank, comments that salvation itself no
longer referred to an abstraction like God but can be sought in the beatification
of others (Becker, 1973: 160). This premise is underlined by the above
discussion that the base fear of death, rather than its celebration, is a result of
the rise in atheism and agnostic, over religious, practice.
With Beckers above discussion of both the love interest as well as Freud and
psychoanalysis, it is of no surprise that sexual intercourse now enters the
discussion. Sex though, here, is considered as a base instinct forged in the
animal side of man and therefore a reminder of both mans paradox and,
ultimately, death. The explanation given by Becker for the reconciliation between
sex and death is fascinating. He suggests that since animals pro-create to further
the species that through human pro-creation humanity is reconciling themselves
to death. To quote:
If sex is a fulfilment of his role as an animal in the species, it reminds him
that he is nothing himself but a link in the chain of being, exchangeable
with any other and completely expendable in himself (Becker, 1973: 163).
Moving forward Becker turns to the discussion of the present form of
psychoanalysis in the 1970s, specifically referring to the three inter-related
aspects of neurosis: (1) referring to people who struggle with the truth of reality,
(2) neurosis as private, and (3) neurosis as historical (Becker, 1973: 177).
Neurosis is synonymous with the process of, what Becker calls, fetishization,
through which most men spare themselves this trouble by keeping their minds
on the small problems of their lives just as their society maps these problems out
for them (Becker, 1973: 178).
From his discussion of neurosis Becker turns, in chapter ten, to what he
reluctantly describes as a general view of mental illness (Becker, 1973: 208).
With regard to the heroic discussed above Becker, citing early work from Adler,
suggests that mental illness arises when a person is unable to maintain the
illusion of life, and in such a way mental illness is in fact a way of talking about
people who have lost courage, which is the same as saying that it reflects the
failure of heroism (Becker, 1973: 209).

Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death. New York: The Free Press (1973).

Ernest Becker Foundation. Theories, Ernest Becker Foundation (2016). [Internet]

Available from: https://goo.gl/F8pxG7 [Accessed on: 04/10/16].
Liechty, Daniel. Biography, Ernest Becker Foundation (2016). [Internet]
Available from: https://goo.gl/GU2HFi [Accessed on: 04/10/16].
The Pulitzer Prizes. 1974 Pulitzer Prizes, The Pulitzer Prizes (2016). [Internet]
Available from: https://goo.gl/kx8a6G [Accessed on: 04/10/16].
Smith, Andrew. Of Death and the Fear of Dying, Quotidiana (1863). [Internet]
Available from: https://goo.gl/KGIw5S [Accessed on 13/10/16].