Fully Alive - A Fine and Private Place

            We like to believe that there is a difference between the living and the dead. Medically speaking, the heart stops beating, breath no longer comes, and brain waves cease. But philosophically speaking, these may be the only differences. We pass people on the streets, speak with them, and shake their hand, never knowing that they are dead. They may not realize it themselves. Just because we are among the living, does not mean that we are alive. So what then, does it mean to be alive?

            This is the theme in A Fine and Private Place that transcends all others. The lines are blurred between the living and dead, until it is difficult to remember who is which. Even the characters themselves have a difficult time distinguishing between the two. The dead desperately cling to life, by holding on to love, music, and hope. The living cling to death by surrounding themselves with it, and denying themselves the very things the dead cling to.

            What it means to be truly living is perhaps best spoken in the book when the raven takes a “break” from flying, and hitches a ride in the back of a truck. He is soon joined by a squirrel, who states “All lives are composed of two basic elements... purpose and poetry. By being ourselves, squirrel and raven, we fulfill the first requirement, you in flight and I in my tree. But there is poetry in the meanest of lives, and if we leave it unsought we leave ourselves unrealized. A life without food, without shelter, without love, a life lived in the rain – this is nothing beside a life without poetry,” (Pg. 85).

            Many people have the first requirement. They live with purpose simply by going through the motions of living. But very few people live with poetry.

            Jonathon Rebeck, the main character, decided that he, quite simply had had enough of the world of the living. He was so dead inside, that he decided that he belonged in the cemetery. For nineteen years, he did nothing but associate with the dead. They were all he could connect to. When he could no longer be a druggist, he had neither purpose nor poetry in his life. After living so long amongst the dead, he too forgot what it meant to be alive.  

             Mrs. Klapper became amongst the dead when her husband died. Her husband took part of her to the grave as well. She is perhaps the greatest example of the living dead. She walks amongst the living, fulfilling her daily tasks. She goes to the market, speaks with her neighbors, and cleans her house. But she spends the majority of her time visiting her deceased husband. Her husband was the only poetry in her life, and the poetry vanished when he died. So she continues to do the minimal things necessary to live, but never fully does.

            The raven is the epitome of purpose. The raven does what he does because of instinct. “Ravens bring things to people. We’re like that. It’s our nature. We don’t like it. We’d much rather be eagles, or swans, or even one of those moronic robins, but we’re ravens and there you are,” (Pg. 7). The thing about the raven is that he can only live his life with purpose. He is not human, and therefore has no concept of poetry. All he has is his animalistic instinct.

            Laura, now dead, only found out what it meant to be alive after death. She was a bookworm, and never had any real interest in the world around her. It is not surprising that her manner of death was being hit by a car; she never paid attention to anything while she was alive. Life had no hold or meaning to her. Even in death, she tried to disappear. It was only after she met Michael that she began to see what was missing.

            Michael is the only character that had both purpose and poetry in his life.  He had a job that he enjoyed, a woman he loved, and filled his life with books and music. It seemed like he actually enjoyed his life. The irony to this is that he committed suicide out of spite for his wife. After death, he did not want to forget what it meant to be alive. He clung to words he had read, and songs he had heard. He never truly wanted to die.

            Campos was the unusual character in the book. While everyone else had no poetry, he had no purpose. He is the exact opposite of the raven. Sure he had a job, but it did not matter much to him. What mattered was the music in his life. He loved to sing, listen to music, and drink his rum. But he had no direction.

            So what then, does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to live with both purpose and poetry? Most people have the purpose. The poetry can be harder to come by. It is passion, love, ambition, beauty, happiness. It is what we choose to live for, not simply living the life that is handed to us. It is everything that is good about the world of the living.

            Ultimately, none of the characters in the book were alive. They all had something missing, be it purpose, poetry, or life itself. And no one, as Rebeck soon realized, can escape their designated status.

               

           “’There is love,’ Mr. Rebeck objected. ‘I have seen it myself. There is humor, and contention, and friendship. All these I have seen.’

            ‘They are here only because you brought them with you. Do you think you have left the world, do you think one escapes that easily?’”

            In the end, everyone must make a choice; to truly live, or truly die. No one can live in both worlds forever.