The Best Death Ever
Children cannot differentiate between what is fun and what is serious. In the short story “The Best Death Ever” by Niall Griffiths four boys are playing a game where they have to fake a death. The boy whoever fakes the best death wins the game. The four boys do not understand what they are doing and see the game, The Best Death Ever, as a fun game. Until one moment, when one of the boys misjudges the distance to ground and almost hang himself meanwhile his friends where shooting at him with their toy guns.
The story is narrated by a first person narrator who looks back at a specific incidence. The narrator technique is very post modernistic. Niall Griffiths uses a lot of humor which makes the story fun to read. For instance, when the boys are shooting with their toy guns they make these funny noises. Niall Griffiths also uses the boys non existing knowledge about death to make the readers laugh “– That was rubbish! Yer meant ter die, not just fall over like a fart. Since when have did you see anyone die like that? (Page 94 line 1-2) Niall Griffiths takes a serious subject like death and turns it funny by saying Mick fell like a fart. The slang that is used also makes the atmosphere more relaxed. Niall Griffiths also points out a child’s innocence. “Soft lad. How can you hurt yerself if yer dead? ” (Page 94 line 7) For the children it is simple logic, because why should Mick not be able to fall properly, if he is dead? Irony is also well used. The title of the story is “The Best Death Ever” and it is the same name as the game the four boys play. The irony occurs because when Gavin tries to make the best death ever, he almost dies trying.
Another significant post modernistic is the open ending because it leaves the reader confused. The story is also a fix point of the narrator’s life, where he is very nostalgic. It takes place in the yard of the narrator’s house in Netherley, Liverpool. The setting does not really matter, but as often in post modernistic stories it is in an urban environment. The story is a flashback of roughly 45-60 minutes of his life. The narrator looks back at that special episode of his life and he turns all nostalgic. The boys are strongly inspired by war movies and war stories told by the elderlies.
The narrator has received a toy gun from his granddad. He knows a lot about it because of his big interest in war. As almost every other boy, they play games with guns and death involved. The problem is not that the boys play war, but that they cannot differentiate between where the fun stops. In this game Gavin almost killed himself, but it was not on purpose. A problem is, when the mom notices Gavin, she immediately saves him. Then she slaps the narrator. By slapping the narrator she punishes him for something that he does not know is wrong.
The narrator is angry, because they have to award Gavin the price of the best death. “I would shock and shake them all with the violence of my going. But we never played the game again. ” Because his mother hit him and did not tell him what they did wrong, he does not understand consequences. Therefore he still wants to win the game next time and he wants to put even more violence in than Gavin did. Luckily they never played the game again, because nobody knows what would have happened then. This story is a perfect example to show that taking extra care of your children is highly necessary.
If you do not teach your kid what is dangerous and what is not, it will have serious consequences. As in this story, the boys cannot see what they have done wrong and therefore they continue their games. The narrator has no intentions to stop he even wants to surpass the other boys by doing more dangerous stunts. The parents must teach their children what is wrong and what is not. They shall not slap the children if they do not hurt someone like in the story, but instead tell them what they did wrong because the children cannot differentiate between right and wrong.
