Grief (novel)
During the course of the novel, the ideas of the stages of grief are introduced. The stages are denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. The narrator, as well as other characters in the story, slowly passes through these stages in trying to deal with death.
Grief (novel)
Narrator - The novel's main character is a nameless middle-aged homosexual who has recently lost his mother. He moves to Washington DC to start his life over again and begins teaching a class about AIDS at a local university. During his stay, he examines his surroundings and uses them to provide insight into his own life experience. Throughout his stay in Washington, the narrator reflects on his views on grief. A prevailing thought he seems to cling to is that grief is a way of keeping your loved ones with you and maintaining a connection with them. The narrator fears that if he moves past his grief, he will no longer have a relationship with the dead and will lose the intimacy he developed with the deceased while they were alive.