Because I could not stop for Death is a poem by Emily Dickinson. The first frame’s scene and lines are taken from the poem verbatim. In the second frame, the author pushes the “y” button on his imaginary video game controller. Consequently, a female (presumably Emily Dickinson) appears and grabs the surprised hooded character of Death driving the wagon, pulling him from his driver’s seat. Death is surprised by this. Emily then rides off with the wagon, leaving a rattled death sprawled out in the road. It is then revealed that this was all a set up to make a joke about an imaginary version of the popular and violent Grand Theft Auto video game franchise that is based on the era and writings of Emily Dickinson. Instead of controlling the typical thug male main characters of GTA, the author wistfully imagines being able to manipulate a strong female Emily character with his handheld controller.
