Grace is
gone is a movie that talks about a father and two children in dealing with
losing their wife and mother by putting off the pain of grief by starting a new
journey of life. In this movie, it
showed that how the army’s family deal with their family member who had died in
the world by protecting the country.
Summary
Stanley
Philips is a middle-aged retired army officer who care for his two daughters,
Heidi (12 years old) and Dawn (8 years old), while his wife Grace who also an
army officer serves in Iraq. In one afternoon,
two army officers visit his home and inform him that Grace had passed away in a
combat. He planned to tell the daughters
about their mother’s death; however, he is unable to speak out the truth. After which, he decided to take the girls to the
Enchanted Gardens, a theme park in Florida that the girls have been wanting to
visit for some time.
The whole
story revolve on how Stanley are experiencing in grief process and at the same
time need to pretend that nothing had happen in front of the girls. Stanley wanted to tell the truth by not
causing any further damage to the girls.
Kübler-Ross model
Grief
affects everyone differently. Some
embrace it in an orgy of tears. Others
keep it contained within like some wild beast that must be controlled. Still others seek to ignore it, perhaps not
realizing that it is tireless and relentless and will catch up to its quarry
eventually. In Kübler-Ross model, there
are 5 stages of grief and loss.
1) Denial and isolation.
In this stage, grieving people are unable
or unwilling to accept that the loss has taken place. They may believe that they are just
experiencing a bad dream and the loss is unreal and they believe that
everything will be fine once they “wake up”.
In this stage, they will deny the truth and it is the a defence
mechanism that buffers them from the loss.
They will block out words and hide themselves from the fact. This is a temporary response that carries people
through the first wave of pain.
For example, Stanley did not admit that
Grace had passed away as he at first stunted when received the news of his wife
dead and did not allowed his girls to eat the foods that are left by the kind neighbour
after they knew on the unfortunate event of Grace. When Heidi knew about her
mother’s news, she thought that this is a joke told by his father.
2) Anger
After people, have passed through denial and accepted
that the loss has occurred, the pain re-emerge.
The intense emotion is redirected and expressed instead as anger. The anger may aim towards at inanimate
objects, complete strangers, friends or family.
Anger may also can be divert to the person who has been lost. Rationally, they know the person is not to be
blamed. Emotionally, they feel anger at
the loss and the unfairness of it as the person cause us in pain for leaving
us. Feelings of abandonment may also occur.
For example, Stanley are angry in scolding Heidi and Dawn
for eating the food and pushing them out of the house. Heidi was also beat his dad after she realize
that it was not a joke and she blame everyone that letting her to experience
it.
3)
Bargaining
In this stage, people beg their “higher
power” to undo the loss by making a deal in any attempt to postpone the
inevitable. This is a weaker line of
defence to protect us from the painful reality by involving promises of better
behaviour or significant life changes will be made in order to exchange for the
reversal of the loss.
4)
Depression
In this stage, people confront the
inevitability and reality of the loss and their own helplessness to change
it. In this period grieving people may
cry, experience sleep or eating habit changes, or withdraw from other
relationships and activities while they process the loss they have
sustained. People may also blame
themselves for having caused or in some way contributed to their loss, whether
or not this is justified.
There are two types of depression are
associated with mourning. The first one
is a reaction to practical implications relate to the loss. Sadness and regret predominate this type of
depression. We worry about the costs and
burial and, in our grief, we have spent less time with others that depend on
us. The phase may be eased with just
simple clarification and reassurance. Grieving
people may need a bit of helpful cooperation and a few kinds of words to overcome
this stage. The second type of
depression is more subtle and private.
It is a quiet process of preparation to separate and farewell our loved
one. Sometimes all the grieving people
may be really need is just a hug.
For example, Stanley, Heidi and Dawn hug
each others in the beach after Stanley had told both Heidi and Dawn about their
mother death. By hugging, they feel that
they are helping and have one and another that can support them to pass through
this stage.
5)
Acceptance
Finally, people entered the last stage of
grieving process which is acceptance. At
this stage, they have processed their initial grief emotions and are be able to
accept that the loss has occurred and cannot be undone, and are once again
bounce back to their normal daily life and ready to be able to plan for their
futures.
Reaching this stage of mourning is a gift
not afforded by everyone. Death may be
sudden and unexpected as grieving people never see beyond own anger or
denial. However, it is different from
the loved one who are diagnosed with terminal ill diseases. In such situation, family and also the patient
may be aware on their own impending death and the physical decline may be
sufficient to produce a similar response.
Their behaviour implies that it is natural to reach a stage at which
social interaction is limited. The
dignity and grace shown by our dying loved ones may well be the last gift of
the patient to the family members. In
this phase, it is marked by withdrawal and calm. This is not a period of happiness and must be
distinguished from depression.
For example, Stanley, Heidi and Dawn
attending on the Grace’s funeral may indicate that they have accept the Grace
death. In the end of the movie, Heidi
was given a speech in her mother’s funeral did showed that she had accept the
fact and will move on their life and left her mother in their memory.
Contrast
Death and its aftermath is such a
painful and disorienting time. I understand why people — both the griever and
those witnessing grief — want some kind of clearly stated road map, a clearly
delineated set of steps or stages that will guarantee a successful end to the
pain of grief. The truth is, grief is as individual as love: every life, every
path, is unique. There is no predictable pattern, and no linear progression.
Despite what many “experts” say, there are no stages of grief.
Ms. Ross, the author of the grief
process identified this five common experiences, not five required experiences.
Her stages, whether applied to the dying or those left living, were meant to
normalize and validate what someone might experience in the swirl of insanity
that is loss and death and grief. The purpose of the stages of grief were not meant
to tell you what you actually will feel, what you should feel, and when exactly
you should feel it. They were not meant to dictate whether you are doing your
grief “correctly” or not. They were meant to normalize a deeply not-normal
time. They were meant to give comfort. This process of grief was meant as a
kindness, not a cage that restricted on what others feel.
There is no set pattern, not for
everyone and not even within each person. Each grief is unique, as each love is
unique. There are no stages capable of containing all the experiences of love
and pain. There are no stages of grief. Aside from just being anger, fear,
peace, joy, guilt, confusion, and a range of other things might also have
occurred. You will flash back and forth through many feelings, often several of
them at once.
Sometimes people will be
tired of grief and will wanted to turn away. They will also turn back and forth
as grief has a rhythm of its own. Your
love, and your grief, are bigger than any stage could ever be. People who had experience bigger grief, they
are more likely not just in experiencing the common five stages and maybe more
than that.
Conclusion In a conclusion, people spend
different lengths of time working through each step and express each stage with
different levels of intensity.
The five
stages of loss do not necessarily occur in any specific order. We often move between stages before achieving
a more peaceful acceptance of death.
Many people are not afforded to have the luxury time to reach this final
stage of grief. The death of loved one might
inspired us to evaluate our own feelings of mortality.
Throughout each stage, a common thread of
hope emerges. I believe that as long as
there is life, there is hope and as long as there is hope, there is life. It is normal that people did not experience
all the stages of grief. I believe this
is because that this stage of grief model is just a form of reference that not
everyone must go through every one of them as it is just helping people in
gaining more understanding and know on how to place themselves into the right
context.
This also
reminds me on my close blood related who had passed away recently. Although I am not really closed with my
grandfather as I am not staying with him; however, I did feel sad when I am
being forced to face the truth. I did
experience in depression and acceptance and did not experience the others as my
grandfather had been diagnosed in terminally ill for a period of time and we
did prepare it both mentally and physically; however, I am still shocked when I
knew that he had passed away out of the sudden.
My experience supports with the argument that experts had concluded as
each of us have different way in overcoming grief as it is a unique process.
So, do Stanley in the movie. We need to
remember that there is no “closure.” Grief is part of love, and love evolves.
Even acceptance is not final: It continuously shifts and changes. The only way
to contain it is to let it be free.