Cold Sassy Tree Analysis Essay Example

should be. He starts to look at things a whole new way. This encounter with death makes him want to understand God and death. Will Tweedy wants to know if God interferes with death and dying or if it all up to us.

In this quote by Will Tweedy, he says, “Grandpa, you think I’m alive tonight cause it was God’s will? ” (Burns 97). When he says this he is just starting to try and understand death. Will Tweedy is just starting to realize how lucky he is to be alive and he is starting to appreciate life and is starting to understand death. The last example of understanding death in this novel is when Rucker himself dies. Right before he dies, he discusses why people die with Miss Love. He understands that although God will not change the fate of any person, he will give strength to all who pray for it.

Will Tweedy realizes all of this as well when he listens in on the conversation. In this quote by Will Tweedy during his grandfather’s funeral, he says, “But then like a light turned on, it came to me what Grandpa might like” (Burns 385). After this quote, Will Tweedy then begins to read and explain the scripture passage about asking for things from Jesus. He explains that his Grandpa thought that instead of asking for worldly things, people should ask for spiritual things and then what they ask for, they will receive.

After his Grandpa’s funeral, Will Tweedy fully understands death and has matured enough to greet death instead of fear it. The theme of understanding death played

a huge role in this novel. As each character started to understand death, they started to mature. The examples of understanding death are when Mattie Lou dies, Will Tweedy almost dies, and when Rucker dies. Each character experiences death in their own way and by the end of the novel, they completely understand it.