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John Wick and Memento Mori
Warning: The Following Article contains spoilers for John Wick 3 — Parabellum
When John Wick (Keanu Reeves) must make a choice between killing Winston (Ian McShane) or rebelling from the High Table and facing death himself, Winston asks a poignant question, “Who do you wish to die as?”
He observes that death will come to John one way or another. Does he want to die as the Baba Yaga, bringer of death and lapdog of the High Table, or as a man who loved and remembers his dead wife?
The question prompts the Stoic principle of Memento Mori, which translated from Latin means, “Remember you will die.”
This practice of the Stoics was meant to keep life in perspective. As morbid as the idea of reflecting on your death may appear, it is meant to be liberating. As Ward Farnsworth wrote in The Practicing Stoic, “Mortality is the defining feature of our existence; Stoics want the imminence of it to inform their daily lives.”
It is the end which puts everything into perspective. Inevitable in its nature, death will come for us all. No matter what we do, we each will face the grim visage of our own end.
As such, it is a powerful way to perceive the world around you. Freeing yourself of the drama of the daily grind, remembering your death gives true perspective to the snide comments of…
