How often have we laughed in the face of death? Many times we find people searching for the most dangerous and extreme stunts that they can think of in order to attract attention, ratings, or even just for thrills. However with the greater the danger the greater probability for Death to come right up and slap you in the face for being so idiotic. No matter whom you are or how dangerously you live you life sooner or later Death will win out. This was the theme that I took from Muriel Spark's book Memento Mori in the words of the voice on the phone "remember you must die.".
Though we may not always acknowledge it, death is a very big part of our lives. It is the constant eerie feeling we get when someone mentions a death or disease or an accident that happened to someone they know or heard about on the news. We all wonder what it would have been like had that been me or someone that I know, what would that feel like? What happens after we die? Will I die soon or live to a long old age? What will people think about me after I die? Will I be remembered? All these questions are one that we never have a clear cut answer for it's not exactly "kiss and tell". If you die you stay dead. Yet while all these questions circulate this is a subject that remains extremely taboo. I mean its not often you sit around with your friends and say "Hey Mark, how do you want to die?" So the cunning little mystery of death is something extremely vital yet extremely PC.
Its these issues in mind that I feel run through the minds of Lettie Colston and the other Characters of Memento Mori. Since most of the characters are now far and beyond the hill the issue of "death coming over to visit" is more and more probable. So when Lettie and company receive the phone calls saying "remember you must die" there mind must be a chaotic wave of fears, thoughts, and speculations. However the subject being as it is most of the characters to me feel to take a more civilized and unconcerned view on the subject in the public eye.