Death and the Kennedys

Senator Edward Kennedy, who died of a brain tumor last week, spent his entire political career trying to redeem his great misdemeanour, the Chappaquiddick incident, when only his family name kept him from being accused of manslaughter. His inexplicable behaviour at the time was not at all convincing, later prompting Joyce Carol Oates to write an impressive novel, Black Water (1992), in which she presented the victim's point of view. But at the nadir of his life, Oates now writes, he turned around and remade himself as a "serious, idealistic, tirelessly energetic liberal Democrat".

An obituary written by President Barack Obama summarizes the senator's impressive career: "For nearly five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts." No matter what you think of his politics, his dedication and the standing it gave him were simply phenomenal. That "second act", Oates says, was the direct result of his "fortunate fall", which turned him into a truly epic character seeking redemption. So death, and not just the violent death of both older brothers, played a central role in his life.

Now the last of the three Kennedy brothers who shaped 20th-century American politics has passed away. In the vocabulary exercise on the next page we review their lives, with a special focus on their passing and the many tragic deaths that have haunted the family.

Anne Hodgson