If dying is a drama, what is the point of the story?

In her paper comparing cultural practices around death in the US and Japan, Susan Orpett Long (2004) says that people rely on several different “cultural scripts” to make sense of death. She sees social life as being like a drama, and the people like actors who play a role. Let us see how far we can take the dramaturgical metaphor of society. She identifies three different cultural scripts: medical, revivalist, and religious. For each script:

• Who are the characters? What roles do people play?
• What is the setting?
• What are the main events?
• What is the point of the story? That is, if seeing one's life as an unfolding drama is meant to find meaning in one's experiences, then what is the meaning or value of playing this role and being part of this scene?

For each of these, note the page numbers for her main examples, either from the interviews in the US or Japan.

Then ask each other:

• What is good or bad about this metaphor for people's social experiences?
• Do you agree or disagree with Long's conclusions? Why?

Long, Susan Orpett. 2004. “Cultural Scripts for a Good Death in Japan and the United States: Similarities and Differences.” Social Science & Medicine, Good and Bad Death, 58 (5): 913–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.10.037.