Ritual use of death in the plays of August Wilson

This study explores the six published plays of August Wilson and shows the ways in which he uses death ritualistically in his works. Because Wilson perceives death as a force not to be feared but to be accepted as an integral part of life, death is often portrayed as a natural and sometimes positive force derived from liberal attitudes towards death found in traditional African and African American culture. Within native African culture, death is merely a passage from one state of existence to another and, as a result, death is often perceived as a celebration of life in African and African American society. Overall, many of Wilson's characters share similarities with ritual subjects in transition consequently, they assume positions outside the limits of the larger society. However, as a result of encounters with death, a force with which the characters are well acquainted, they are eventually transformed. As Wilson repeats themes of death and events accompanying death in which characters struggle to meet and/or satisfy primary needs, the characters also validate, reinforce and reaffirm positive values of the community, thereby achieving new positions within the majority culture. At times ritual sacrifice is necessary to aid in avoiding potentially violent confrontations or reinforcing the social fabric of the community nevertheless, death in August Wilson's plays remains, for the most part, a positive force of transformation.