There Was an Old Woman story

rbt1985e2x11 · 1988-05-21

An old woman who spent her entire life defying death attempts to claim her body from the mortuary after she finally bites the dust. Directed by: Bruce McDonald. Story by: Ray Bradbury.

11 total · 2 choice · 3 major · 6 minor

Theme	Level	Motivation
coming to terms with one's own death	choice	The titular old woman Tildy stubbornly refused to come to terms with her own death that when it finally and inevitably came for her, she actually browbeat the grim reaper's henchmen into letting her return to corporeal life.
facing death	choice	The old woman, Tildy, had evidently for many years been preoccupied with preparations for facing off against the grim reaper, should he presume to come for her.
death incarnate	major	Four men carrying a wicker basket, and their leader in particular, seemed to represent the Grim Reaper in all but appearance.
ghost	major	Upon refusing to go with the man with the wicker basket, Aunt Tildy evidently became somewhat incorporeal in the manner of a ghost, albeit not invisible. She also threatened to "haunt" the people who had carried off her body, demonstrating that she thought of herself in such terms.
what if I had a near-death experience	major	The more mundane explanation for the events from another point of view might be that Aunt Tildy simply had a normal near death experience. That is, she was believed dead but came back to life at the last moment before being autopsied.
aunt and niece	minor	Aunt Tildy spoke affectionately about her niece Emily. Emily later freaked out upon seeing Tildy's ghost.
coping with the death of a spouse	minor	Aunt Tildy mourned for her late husband and recalled his final moments.
creative writing	minor	In the introduction, Ray Bradbury shared with the viewer the wellsprings of creativity that inspire his writing.
fear	minor	Emily shrieked in terror at the sight of Tildy's ghost.
the nature of creativity	minor	In his introduction, Ray Bradbury gave his viewers an intimate window into his writing room, and some of the self-professed sources of creativity that lay about within it.