I'm Not Dead Yet!

  

"I'm Not Dead Yet!"

     This past week in class we've been reading Diary of a Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. At one point in the novel, the author describes a man who went door to door, playing a pipe instrument, unafraid of the Plague. One night, after being given too much food, he falls asleep in the street, only to wake up in the cart used to carry away the dead bodies affected by the plague. In his confusion about his location, the piper asks the man carrying the cart where he is and why he's there. The man pushing the cart is startled, as the people in the cart are definitely not supposed to talk. He proceeds to tell him that he's in the dead cart, about to be buried. As any normal person would respond in a situation like this, the piper tells the cart attendant, "But I an't dead tho, am I?" before getting let out of the cart. This section of the book is nearly identical to a scene in the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which, if you haven't seen, is a movie I highly recommend). The movie scene is practically identical in every way, except when the man insists he isn't dead, he is told, "you'll be stone dead in a moment". I have to believe that the creators of Monty Python, which is a British comedy troupe, read Defoe's book and took inspiration for their movie from it. In fact, I hope this is the case. Considering that authors like William Shakespeare are referenced in so many modern movies, books, and TV shows, I think it's time for a new author to share in the fame. Anyway, regardless of how or why the skit was placed in the movie, it is a pretty funny way to see the section on Diary of a Plague Year portrayed.