An Analysis of Tim Ribberink’s Suicide Note

Bagus Putra Ramadhansya

1110026000011 / 5B

English Letters Department

Faculty of Adab and Humanities

UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

2012

Introduction

According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, suicide is the act or instance of taking one’s own life. Meaning that suicide based on fully-conscious intention. It is different from killing one’s life, which can be intentionally and unintentionally. On CDC report 2002a, The World Health Organization estimates that worldwide, nearly 500,000 people commit suicide each year ─ nearly 1 per minute (as cited in Passer & Smith, 2004).

Suicide is commonly attempted and committed by teenagers and people in the productive age between 15 to 24. This is caused by the pressure they get from their surroundings. They are still biologically and mentally developing, yet the pressure and expectation of them from parents, teachers, and peers are enormous that could lead to depression. Depression is one of the strongest predicators of suicide. About 15 percent of clinically depressed individuals will eventually kill themselves (Passer & Smith, 2004).

Most suicide attempters and completers usually leave something behind for their beloved ones, in this case a note. The notes are not only scrabble of meaningless language, it rather contains motive and one possible way of examining suicidal motivation would be to analyze the suicide notes that they leave.

This essay attempt to analyze the suicide note left by Tim Ribberink, an allegedly gay Dutch man who committed suicide on November 2012. The note was published by his parents in Tubantia, a local Dutch newspaper, and later featured on both printed and electronic forms of The Huffington Post.

Theoretical Background

The term forensic linguistic was coined in 1968 as a result for Jan Starvik’s analysis of Timothy John Evans’, a man sentenced to death for the murder of his wife and baby, statement. Forensic linguistics is the scientific study of language applied to forensic purposes and context and closely related with the language of crime and the law. Any item whether it is written or spoken language is potentially a forensic text. Almost any kind of text including a will, a note, a letter, a contract, and an essay could become forensic text (Olsson, 2004). Therefore, a suicide note can be considered as a forensic text, since suicide is under the umbrella of crime and law.

A suicide case has always become investigation object, because suicide has never been an act with no motive. The motives are influenced by loads amount of factors. The factors do not only come from the attempters or completers themselves, but also involving other people. This is the reason that investigation has to be conducted in order to find the motive of the suicide, how it is committed, and the legal actions that should follow and be done based on the act.

Interpreting in any way is a difficult task to do; thus, the discipline and theory used could depend on the object of interpretation (van Dijk, 1985). A single forensic item can be interpreted so many ways using different discipline and theory. That is if conducted by one person, let alone if it is conducted by several and/or different person and perspective. Since suicidal person usually has psychology disorder, psychology theories and studies will also be found in this essay.

Socio-cultural condition of a society is reflected in both spoken and written form of a language and Discourse Analysis attempts to reveal this (Gee, 2005). We can examine the condition and problems growing within the society. Those problems could give a suicidal person a motivation. Discourse analysis is a plant that keeps on growing. This field concerns with the study of language use in context. A way to approach and evaluate a problem is also included; hence, the way to reveal the hidden motivations behind a text, in this case a suicide note is also possible (Martinez, 2011).

To help interpreting Tim Ribberink’s suicide note, Semantics will also be useful because Semantics studies the meaning that words, phrases, sentences, or texts express. The focus of semantic analysis in forensic context is on the comprehensibility and interpretation of language that is difficult to understand (Strazny, 2005).

Those three studies; Forensic linguistics, Discourse analysis, and Semantics could not stand on their own. By using these three fields of study, the hidden meaning of the words used in Tim Ribberink’s suicide note and also the motive of his suicide can finally be unveil.

Analysis

1.1 The scan of Tim Ribberink’s suicide note

1.2 The English translation of Tim Ribberink’s suicide note published by The Huffington Post

The note will be fragmented into smaller details to get better look and understanding.

Figure 1.3

The beginning of the note is obvious. The note was intended, or we can also say dedicated, to specific people; Tim Ribberink’s parents. This indicates that he wanted to tell them things that he could not or not courageous enough to tell them personally when he was still alive. By telling something he could not do verbally or face to face avoiding any negative result that possibly occur, he found relief. As humans we have the need to interact with each other.  Suicide attempters or completers are often in the middle of interpersonal conflicts and have more need to communicate to others (Passer & Smith, 2004). Tim saw his suicidal act and suicide note as a way of communicating distress to these significant others.

When he was committing the act, he was under a lot of stress he could not see another way to escape from it. This made him wrote down the dearest and most influential people for him. This also indicates a high degree of strictness. He wanted his parents, and only them to get the note. It may seem very selfish of him to only grant the note to his parents, but this also shows that he still had the respect for his parents. He accepted and declared how big they influenced his life. He knows that his parents were the people who will understand him, who will have hard times dealing with his suicidal act and the things which would follow that.

Figure 1.4

Tim left this part hanging. We can get the general idea that he was treated badly. Two questions arose: He was treated badly by whom? And he was treated badly for what? In order to answer this, we need to check on Tim’s background story. He was an allegedly gay man. The word “allegedly” was stated due to the fact that there was no proof or statement from him that revealed or declared him as a gay man. Even if he were a gay man, the maltreatment he was having was simply shocking.

The Netherland is assumed as the most liberal country in the world. It is globally known for its liberal policies on matters such as sexual orientation. In 1993 the Dutch parliament enacted the "Equal Rights Law", which included sexual orientation as a category legally protected against discrimination. This does not only reflect how liberal the Netherlands, but also reflects the toleration towards any sexual orientation, including homosexual, and the prohibition of discrimination. However, the act of despising and discriminating gays or homophobia has not gone as we can see in Tim’s suicide note.

The most devastating thing is the statement that he has been treated badly in his entire life. This indicates that he was having maltreatment since childhood. Human sexuality and sexual orientation formed by many factors; biological, psychological, and environmental (Pastorino & Doyle-Portillo, 2009). A large amount of studies indicate a strong biological role in sexual orientation. A biological factor is very likely determines the direction of a child’s emerging sexual desire (Gleitman, H., et al., 2004). If a child is biologically having homosexual orientation, he will surely carries that factor growing up.

Suicide attempters or completers usually have a mental health problem. They have a “fight” within themselves. The gays may have mental health problems because all their lives they have hard times trying to fit in the society. There are more people with contradictive attitude than those who give approval and supports. Different with people with physical defections that have better chance to fit in the society because people think it was not their fault they were born that way, where in the case of gays, people blamed homosexual as a horrifying way of life that the gays themselves chose to live. People act tenderer and more tolerable towards people with physical defections and act harsher to people who are gay.

We can conclude that the maltreatment Tim was having did not come from his physical appearance; therefore, the allegation of Tim being gay is indeed proven to be true, referring to his statement of having maltreated in his entire life.

Figure 1.5

This part of the note is extremely strange. “Fantastic” is a rather oddly word choice. Tim ironically described his parents with this word out of thousands of words. This is apparently quite the opposite for his parents concerning the fact that their son ended up dead killing himself. The word “fantastic” is normally used as an extreme appreciation or respect for people who shows something of worth. Tim was appreciating and saluting his parents for doing a great job raising him until the moment he committed suicide. Even though they seems failed nurturing their son because he was dead in a suicide, they had raised a very tough one. Where other children may fall apart during one bad moment, their son had survived the maltreatment for 20 years.

Tim’s suicide act and the word choice of “fantastic” do not go along; therefore, Tim indicated something else. He was coldly but calmly being sarcastic when he uses the word. He used it to point out the fact that his parents did the opposite of the word. On one hand, he could be praising and saluting his parents and on the other hand he could blame his parents and tries to make them realize their failure. What are the chances of someone using a clear and bright as day optimistic word as “fantastic” in their suicide note, when depression, which is the main cause of suicide, makes them hopeless and only think pessimistically about life?

Tim was depressed. The society’s expectation of someone could put pressure on one’s mental health. They could end up having a mental disorder, in Tim’s case: depression. Tim indicated that he had low self-esteem. He believed that he was inferior compared to his parents. When he says his parents are fantastic, he indirectly considers himself as “the bad guy”.

Figure 1.6

This part shows the feeling of something that Tim wants and wishes to happen in the future. He didn’t feel confident enough of what will happen in the future. Anger is a feeling as result of bad and awful things that happen to and irritate someone; therefore, Tim’s hope indicated that he has done something bad. This refers to the earlier part of the note where the allegation of he was being gay is proved.

This part of the note shows fear. He was afraid that his parents would react negatively on his decision. This is also one of the reasons why he put his thoughts in the note. If he tells them directly he was afraid to face the ugly truth at that moment, so he kept it to himself and put it all for his last note.

Another thing that this part of the note indicates is apologetic act. A suicide decision is also based on a desire to stop being a burden to others (Passer & Smith, 2004). He could sense the possibility of irritating and disappointing his parents for the fact that he was gay and that he decided to kill himself; thus, he apologized for all the inconvenience he had already made and those which may happen in the future.

Figure 1.7

The last part of his note indicates that he has a religious belief and it influenced his way of thinking. The usual suicidal person would use simple salutation regarding significant others or even none to end the note, but that was note the case for Tim. He believed that he and his parents would be together again at last in the afterlife. Most religious belief condemned the act of suicide because it is an insult to God. They believe that God gives life and He is also the one who has the right to take it. The suicide that Tim committed showed the fact that he was not a really devoted and religious person. The result was even if he believed with the “higher power”, it did not stop him of committing suicide.

The length of the note is also unique; even though it is common for people to write suicide note in short form. Tim’s note looks like a general notification; short, simple, and straight to the point showing a very high degree of strictness and urgency.

Conclusion

Suicidal people are still humans. As humans, we try to communicate with other using various things and mediums. Suicide attempters or completers are more often in the middle of interpersonal conflicts; therefore, they eagerly want to communicate to others (Passer & Smith, 2004). Tim Ribberink used a suicide note to tell the things that he was having a hard time with telling them when he was still alive.

The note looks simple and very clear. At first sight, it looks like it doesn’t show negative emotion or even any emotion at all. That is only on the surface. When we look closer and intently, we can interpret the word choices he made in his note. They are not simple anymore; they become more complicated, layered. The note shows accusation, resentment, apologize, anger, and respect for his parents. The note also shows ironic conditions; where he was appreciating and blaming his parents at the same moment and where he showed religious believe but still committed suicide.

Based on the above interpretation of his suicide note, the motive of his suicide is the depression he was feeling at that time for the fact of him being gay. The pressure of prejudice, discrimination, and maltreatments from his environment was so great he became depressed. Even though he has always tried to be strong his entire life, he eventually could not take them anymore and when he was in the depressed state, he could not see any other way to escape from all the pressure and problems in his life except to commit suicide.

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