Would you want to know? And if you did know, what would you do?

[SusanJillParker]

I'm writing a story for a fan and in the story the main character tragically and unexpectedly dies.

I have two questions.

Would you want to know in advance if you were going to die? Sort of like some may want to know if they're having a boy or girl when pregnant and others may not want to know, some want to know and others don't want to know when they're going to die.

If you did know when you were going to die and had some time to make some changes and do some things that you wouldn't ordinarily do, what would you do?

Besides robbing a bank or having sex with someone you've always wanted to have sex with, perhaps you'd spend the remainder of your time on Earth praying.

"Sister Mary Elizabeth, please get on your knees and pray with me."

"Oh, my God! What in God's name are you doing with your penis out of your pants, Father O'Malley? I thought you wanted to pray."

"I do," said Father O'Malley putting a forceful hand behind the nun's head. "Being that I'm dying soon, one day, whenever, I have no idea when, but eventually we're all going to die sooner perhaps then later, I'm praying that you'll blow me."

"If you dare stick your prick in my mouth Father, you'll definitely be dying sooner than later."

All levity aside would you want to know when you were going to die and what would you do if you knew the Angel of death was coming for you sooner than later?

 

[49greg]

I definitely don't want to know in advance. As Napoleon said when asked how he wanted to die, I want it to be "unexpectedly".

 

[NicoleZ]

When you're diagnosed with cancer that has gone undetected long enough for it to metastatise, you know that your days are numbered. Even if you survive the initial courses of treatment (radiotherapy, chemo, surgery), you know that the odds against making a full recovery are, if not astronomical, at the very least forbidding. You live daily with the knowledge that today might be the last "good" day and that in a matter of weeks, it could be all over, even if "that day" might still be a long time coming. Do you want to know exactly when? No. That knowledge would put too great an onus on the time remaining to use it profitably. Tick-tock, tick-tock...

 

[oggbashan]

My older brother was diagnosed with cancer. His first course of chemotherapy was bearable. A year later his second was very unpleasant. He decided not to continue but to try to drink his wine cellar dry before he died.

He failed. But he made a very good effort to empty it. He had a high tolerance of alcohol and enjoyed being slightly inebriated. His last few months were spent in a pleasant haze.

He might have succeeded in emptying the wine cellar if he hadn't married a wine importer's daughter.

 

[CeasarBoobage]

My older brother was diagnosed with cancer. His first course of chemotherapy was bearable. A year later his second was very unpleasant. He decided not to continue but to try to drink his wine cellar dry before he died.

He failed. But he made a very good effort to empty it. He had a high tolerance of alcohol and enjoyed being slightly inebriated. His last few months were spent in a pleasant haze.

He might have succeeded in emptying the wine cellar if he hadn't married a wine importer's daughter.

Now that's the way to go. You know it's coming, and you spend your remaining time with a constant happy buzz while spending those last few moments with your friends and family, with enough time to get your affairs in order. No, it's not necessarialy a good time, but you make the best you can of your situation.

Me? It's not a fun thing to dwell on, but yeah, I would like to know. (see above). I'd hate to find out that "the fateful day" is when I'm on a business trip across the country away from everyone I love. I would love to have the time to tie up all the loose ends I can and give out the lovin' that's due before I bleed out or take that last rattling gasp. I don't care if trading away a quick easy death means a painful one, but God above, lemme know first.

(side note: quoting oggbashan twice in like ten minutes? lol, it feels weird.)

-------------------
Add-on the the above comment: Ogg, sorry about your brother. When I was a kid, I had an older brother drown while he was out of town. Obviously that surprise was not a good experience for the family. About a year later, I almost drowned, so I kind of felt his pain, and it made the experience all the more terrifying. Yeah, I became a damn good swimmer after that.

So yeah - death comes to us all, and usually not by the manner of our choosing, and it can spring out of nowhere.
I've had plenty of people around me die, but very few could see the end coming. I (kind of) envy them for that.

 

[CeasarBoobage]

When I re-read this thread, I saw the OP asked what we would do if we knew in advance.

In real life? Get a &@&$* lawyer to get the paperwork started to reconcile accounts. Say the good-byes. Spend time with the good friends and family. Rent a cabin in the mountains or on the beach, and spend time listening to nature; it's selfish greedy 'me time', but fuck everyone else.

In Lit life? Mostly the same as the above... -ish.
That lawyer? For an extra 5% fee increase, my lawyer and her secretary would fulfill my every carnal need that I asked for. For two-three hours a week, I own them, mind and soul. Since my (imaginary) patent library and stock portfolio are well-endowed, their bank accounts will help them forget those six months where they were at my beck and call.
Oh yeah, the will... Hell, who doesn't stand to profit from it? Every one of my good friends is a good friend to me. The love me and give me the support I need. They will be rich.

All of the people who liked me for my bank account now starts calling, and I give them my best Hollywood lines, and for the promise of cash, they do the sluttiest things for and with me. It's not for my own pleasure that I'm letting this happen though. It doesn't do much for me. I want them to hate themselves for selling themselves short and being greedy. After a dozen wanna-be friends make complete fools of themselves, I wink tell them that they will be rewarded exactly as much as they deserve.

My wife? Of course she gets the majority of my holdings, but the one problem is sex. In the past decade, we kinda gave up on each other. We had an understanding that we would pretend to not know about each other's dalliances, but in the end, we came clean. We made up, we made sweet sweet love in a hammock under the stars, and I gave her my blessing to live her life after my death without remorse.

The fun part was the next morning though. She knew about the lawyers and my fake friends, and she wanted me to invite her to the next performance. WIth my death date four days in advance, I'm not sure if she was scouting out perspective partners or gathering blackmail evidence...

 

[ElsieElsewhere]

I'd probably kill myself well ahead of the expected time just to test if it is legitimate.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Eric Berne MD said we all know the days of our deaths.

Death is one of the rare occasions to see folks unmasked.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

Saw your question, thought about it.

So many things you can do.So many things you can make others do for you. So many things you can admit. So many things you'd like to find out. You're spoiled for choice.

Funny how sex and money and self-care comes first. (I can't call it selfishness- you're dying, damnit, this is all about you now)

And God. But they're prayers for yourself, or for the people you're leaving behind, so it's still something you're doing for yourself.

I've sat and watched enough people die, and saw the messy aftermath that follows it. Death is only peaceful for the dead.

Would I like to find out? Yes.
So, what would I do? Nothing. I'll just wait in line, doing what I usually do.

 

[DreamCloud]

I have faced death and surprisingly had no fear. It is the in-between state, the place where death is inevitable and life is unliveable that frightens me. I have a rule; put a remote control in my hands and if the television station doesn't change, pull the plug.

To know of my demise beforehand would be difficult. I would piss people off keeping it a secret. Pity is a poor companion. Identifying the books I would never write would kill the dreams and weaken my last days. Nope, I prefer to be in the dark.

 

[MindsMirror]

This is essentially the plot of "Stranger Than Fiction" which is about a writer writing a book about a guy who starts hearing the plot in his head.

 

[GoldenCojones]

Nope

Nope, when I go I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not screaming and shouting like the 7 passengers in the van he was driving.

 

[JayG88]

To quote Woody Allen: i'm not afraid of death, i just don't want to be there when it happens. It's such a tough question but I guess I'd take the easy option of not knowing. Think of the despair in the lyrics to the David Bowie song Five Years (about the end of the world in five years time) it would be bedlam.

 

[hylas_]

Do I want to know when I'm going to die? Nope.

But if I legitimately had the option of knowing... then I'd probably opt for knowing. Because I imagine "knowing" is pretty bad, but "not knowing, eventhough I have the option of knowing" is even worse... if that makes sense.