"The Good Short Life" by Dudley Clendinen Analysis

"But we don't talk about how to die. We act as if facing death weren't one of life's greatest,
most absorbing thrills and challenges. Believe me, it is. This is not dull." (Clendinen 64)
Image credit goes to artist Ferdinand Hodler

Dudley Clendinen passed away in May 2012 at the age of 67, after a career of writing about societal problems and civil rights. During his final two years, he had been suffering from the neurodegenerative Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS. In his piece "The Good Short Life" he writes about his desire to commit suicide instead of living through the roughest period of his disease. In his essay Clendinen wishes to make readers understand why a terminally ill person would want to end their life on their own terms, to show that doing so it not a disregard for the people in their life. He also addresses that no one thinks about how to die, even though they think about everything else. Clendinen’s piece is also not difficult to read or understand. For all of these reasons, this essay is truly meant for anyone, as everyone is going to die one day and should think about how they want it to happen.

Clendinen uses quite a bit of narration in order to give his readers some background about his life. When telling about receiving the news about his illness, he writes, “When the neurologist gave me the diagnosis that November, he shook my head hand with a cracked smile and released me to the chill, empty parking lot below… I’m not prepared for this, I thought.” (Clendinen 64). He writes a lot about his own thoughts so that the reader understands his choice to take his own life. In the beginning of the essay Clendinen also defines his disease, in case it is unknown or unfamiliar to the reader. He writes about Lou Gehrig, the baseball player for which the disease is named, the symptoms, and which type of ALS he has. Both of these rhetorical strategies make it easier for the reader to connect to Clendinen and therefore to see why he wants to take his own life. Despite this, Clendinen would not achieve his purpose with all readers. Those who do not believe in suicide or in harming oneself in any way would never agree with him; only open-minded ones, or those who are terminally ill or know someone who is, would understand.