Hillesum starts her essay by recounting one night that she was laying in bed. As she lies in bed she hears the sounds of gun shots and bombs. She knows that at any minute she could be torn to pieces. "..any minute now a piece of shrapnel could come through that window. It's quite possible. And it's equally possible that there would be a lot of pain. And yet I felt so deeply peaceful and grateful, there in my bed, and meekly resigned to all the disasters and pains that might be in store for me." Even though she could have been destroyed at any moment she felt no stress. She could care less about what w

Although I do agree that the theory behind death will most likely be given by the leading power of a people, I think that there is a truth to be found. So the discussing it will eventually lead to a conclusion.

If Hillesum was confronted by Russell's point that it is biologically useful to fear death, I think she would say there is no point in fearing death when it is inevitable. Everyone was going to die why fear it? This shows that Hillesums attitudes were definitely collectivist. She said she would feel bad if she avoided the fate of the masses, "And it is sheer arrogance to think oneself too good to share the fate of the masses." Her death was nothing more than that of everyone else. It didn't matter if she went to die or someone else, it was just that someone must go. I don't agree with this statement either. It is not arrogant to avoid sharing the fate of the masses. It is arrogant not to try to change the fate of the masses, if that fate is horrible. Near the end of her essay she states that "at a given point you can no long do, but can only be and accept." I agree with this statement. I believe there is a point that you can become so physically and mentally debilitated that you can no long "do". But the fact that Hillesum could still write suggests that she was not at this point. She goes even further to explain that "she has never been able to "do" anything; she can only let things take their course and if need be suffer." This is such a sad statement. She is almost contradicting herself with her essay. Her essay in some ways i

Some common words found in the essay are:
Facing Death, Phaedo Socrates, Death Death, Etty Hillesum, Baum Russell, views death, fate masses, fear death, views death essay, safe god's arms, death essay, death fearing, death philosophers, safe god's, god's arms, agree statement,
Approximate Word count = 1055
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)