The question of some form of soul or awareness beyond death always seems to come up when death happens. And the answer is always the same, for no one knows it. The handling of the process of reflection and wondering is what is different for each of us.
Mary and Hannah are convinced that they feel Jay’s presence in the house. For them, it is a comforting phenomenon and real or imagined, it gives them a chance to say goodbye in view of the sudden shock of his death.
"And that even whether you believe or not in life after death," Mary said, "in the soul, as a living, immortal thing, creature, why it’s certainly very believable that for a little while afterwars, this fore, this life, stays on, hovers around." (p. 146)
Mary’s mother, deaf so that likely she wouldn’t hear any subtle noises, does agree that she feels someone in the house, and Mary’s brother, Andrew, is easygoing enough and emotional so that he too accepts the possibility. Mary’s father, however, is a more practical sort.
"If you’re right, and I’m wrong, then chances are youre right about the whole damn business, God, and the whole crew. And in that case, I’m just a plain damned fool.
"But if I can’t trust my common sense–I know it’s nothing much, Poll, but it’s all I’ve got. If I can’t trust that, what in hell can I trust?" (p. 147)
The story is no necessarily about religion, though Mary’s faith has brought her to the edge with both her father and her husband when he was alive. The fact of faith as a possible comfort in the face of the unknown is just one of the ways that the question of life and death is approached. Those with faith, Mary and her aunt Hannah, appear to accept death more easily if they feel their unproven beliefs offer a "happy ending" to the unhappiest part of life. Andrew doesn’t have a strong faith in God or immortality of the soul, but it suits him to accept it, takes away one of his worries.
But those like Joel, Mary’s father, are the ones who truly question and seek answers. Likely would love to believe the idea of a God and an eternal life. Their problem is, they need to have proof.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology