Where Do You Go When You Die ?

Hamlet:

"Has this fellow no feeling of his business ? He

sings in grace-making.

Horatio:

Custom hath made it in him a property of 

easiness.

Hamlet: 

'Tis e'en so.  The hand of little employment

hath the daintier sense.

Gravedigger: (sings)

But age which his stealing steps

Hath clawed e in his clutch,

And hath shipped me into the land,

As if I had never been such.

(He digs up a skull.)

Hamlet:

That skull had a tongue in it and could sing

once.  How the knave jowls it to the ground as if 

'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder!

This might be the pate of a politician which this ass

now o'erreaches, one that would circumvent God,

might it not ?

Horatio: 

It might my lord.

Hamlet: 

Or of a courtier, which could say "Good

morrow sweet lord! How dost thou, sweet lord?"

This might be my Lord Such-a-one that praised my 

Lord such-a-one's horse when he went to beg it,

might it not ?

Horatio:

Ay my lord" (5.1, 67-89).

Hamlet is infatuated with all things death.  After his encounter with the apparition of his father, his obsession with death increased extensively.  He took a philosophical stance and began to question what the point of life was if eventually everyone ended up dead.  When thoughts of suicide crept into his head, he began to question whether one still dreams during their forever sleep and, if not, was suicide worth it ?  When Hamlet and Horatio are strolling through the grave yard, Hamlet's infatuation with and curiosity about death and the after life is evident.  To many, including the Gravedigger and Horatio, death means that you are put in the ground and that is the end, but to others, such as Hamlet it is difficult to accept the end as it is.

While walking through the graveyard, Hamlet is intrigued by each skull he sees.  He wants to know the story behind each one.  He wants to know what kind of person the skull belongs to.  To one skull he says "that skull had a tongue in it and could sing once" (78-79) and to another, "this might be the plate of a politician which this ass now o'erreaches (81-82), and to another "or of a courtier that could say "Good morrow sweet lord! How dost thou, sweet lord?" (84-85).  These comments show that Hamlet cannot accept that death is the end and now these skulls, although once they were a person, are now just bones.  He is paying attention to the personalities and skills each of the skulls once had from singing to politics to advising.  By calling the gravedigger an "ass" (81), Hamlet not only displays his disdain for the disrespect of the bones, but he also characterizes how the gravedigger regards death. 

To the gravedigger, skulls are just a part of his everyday life.  They are no more important to him than nails are to a carpenter.  The reason he sings as he works (73-76) is not to be disrespectful but instead, is to simply keep him from being consumed by boredom.  However, to Hamlet, the fact that he sings is preposterous and causes him to immediately devalue the gravedigger.  When Hamlet first hears the gravedigger singing he is appalled as shown by his comments of "has this fellow no feeling of his business? He sings in grave-making" (67-68).  He assumes that one must have "feeling[s]" (67) when it comes to dealing with the skulls of those who once lived. In response to all of Hamlet's questions, Horatio is calm and rather emotionless.

Horatio, like the gravedigger, seems to regard death as a natural process.  In response to Hamlet's inquiry about the gravedigger, Horatio says "custom hath made him a property of easiness" (69-70). As Hamlet ponders the former occupations of the skulls, Horatio replies with "it might be my lord" (83) and "ay, my lord" (89).  Horatio is not flustered by the treatment of the skulls.  He understands that when life is over it is over.  Hamlet cannot accept death for what it is and cannot help but think, is that it ?