Honors Theses

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Completion

Spring 4-30-2026

Academic Year

2025-2026

Department

English

Academic Major

English

Faculty Advisor

Darlene Stewart, M.Ed.

Abstract

Western culture places a lot of importance on legacy and friendship as important lessons to learn from death. However, children do not have as much experience with death due to changing cultural customs, and our society lacks a formal death education system that can promote these values and teach children how to respond to death in their lives. Literature, though, can fill this gap in children’s knowledge by teaching the basic physical components of death and philosophical understandings of death. These ideas are learned through vicarious reading, in which children experience the character’s emotions and reactions as they read. The books I analyze are arranged in age order and demonstrate that the readers have a growing understanding of death and a growing independence in how they react to the possibility of their own death and the death of others. Charlotte’s Web teaches children about personal mortality. It also discusses the importance of relationships and how strong relationships allow a person to instill their values in others. Bridge to Terabithia explores causality before taking these ideas about relationships further by connecting them to legacy. In this book, others practice the deceased girl’s values and even pass them on after her death, ensuring that her memory will not die. The Book Thief demonstrates that leaving behind strong relationships and a legacy leads to a peaceful death. Finally, The Fault in Our Stars brings these ideas together by encouraging readers to purposefully invest in their relationships and consider their own legacies in light of a mature understanding of death.

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