Broken heart
For most bereaved individuals, the journey through grief will ultimately culminate in an acceptable level of adjustment to a life without their loved one. The Kübler-Ross model postulates that there are five stages of grief after the loss of a loved-one: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. And while it is recognized that mourners go through initial period of numbness leading to depression and finally to reorganization and recovery, most modern grief specialists recognize the variations and fluidity of grief experiences differ considerably in intensity and length among cultural groups, individually from person to person as well as depending on the amount of investment put into the relationship.
Grief (novel)
Nick's Mother - Nick's mother (nameless) was a mutual friend of the narrator and the narrator's landlord. She and the narrator trade their individual views on grief and reminisce about her son, who died of AIDS several years prior. While the narrator seems to harbor more romantic views on grief and the dead, Nick's mother entertains a more scientific view, which is illustrated when she states that “when we die, our bodies and brains have stopped. Hence there is no consciousness. Hence we cannot wake up. It's merely a false extrapolation people want to make because they cannot bare the thought of their own extinction” (117).