Death Be Not Proud Summary - John Gunther - Masterplots II: Juvenile & Young Adult Biography Series

At a glance:

Author: John Gunther
First Published: 1949
Time of Work: 19451947
Setting: New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut
Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Diary
Subjects: Parents and children, Teenagers, Authors or writers, Autobiography, Cancer, Fathers, Death or dying, Sick persons, Terminal illness or terminally ill, Biography
Locales: United States, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North America

Form and Content

John Gunther took the title of Death Be Not Proud: A Memoir from a sonnet by British poet John Donne, from which he quotes at the beginning of the book: “Death be not proud, though some have called thee/ Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.” This poem is an appropriate introduction to Gunther’s account of his son’s illness and death, for the book focuses not on death itself but on the triumph of human valor against the ultimately overwhelming forces of fate. Gunther follows the poem with a foreword that paints a picture of Johnny before his...

(The entire page is 1490 words.)

Want to read the whole thing?

Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:

30,000+ literature study guides
Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE

External Links

Death Be Not Proud (Wikipedia Reference)