|
Reader question: Please explain “cheating death” in the following passage, from a review of the film Aviator, starring Christopher Reeve: Reeve also found out that early air mail pilots had short life spans. “They were cheating death,” Reeve said. “If you got to be 35 you were known as an old pilot.” My comments: Every time an air mail pilot takes to the sky, he runs the risk of losing his life; Every time he lands safely on the ground, he makes an escape from death. Hence, the observation of Christopher Reeve, best known for his Superman movies, that an air mail pilot’s career is one of cheating death. No wonder pilots who were 35 were considered old back in those years – many did not live to that age. They ran such an extraordinary risk of life that every time they survived to fly another day, it felt like they cheated death one more time. We cheat a person by telling them something untrue. If they believe our tale, they are cheated. Yeah, we cheat people, but death? If we take death as a person, this phrase will be easier to understand. Take the Grim Reaper, for example. The Grim Reaper is the legendary personification of death in the West. He is a skeletal figure covered from top to bottom in a hooded black cloak – in movies the devil always carries a large scythe on his shoulder. He stands for death and his job is to collect the souls of people who’ve just died. | 
