Catullus’ Dead Brother and 1408

Over the Summer I went to see the movie 1408. One of the main themes of this movie was the main character (played by John Cusack) attempting to cope with the recent death of his daughter. Immediately I thought of Catullus’ poems about the death of his brother. I was struck by the similarity between the grief shown by the character and the grief shown by Catullus. I also noticed one BIG difference: While Catullus laments that he will never see his brother again, he also says that he will remember his brother by singing songs of his praise. On the other hand, John Cusack’s character is almost paralyzed at times by his grief and thus makes a concerted effort to expel the sadness from his mind.From this I draw the conclusion that it is best to reminisce on glad thoughts and not to simply try to remove all traces of a person from one’s mind.