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I'm having a hell (HAHAHA) of a time putting my thoughts on this into words, so if this comes out curt and more like an outline, cut me some slack. It's also been a while since I've read the material I reference.
According to Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth, it was held by some Men that their original nature was as immortals, like the Elves. Andreth related to Finrod that Melkor had tempted the early Men and they "fell from grace" and thus inherited death. Sound familiar? They misunderstood this "gift" of death, or feared the mystery it contained, and one might take this as Tolkien's own commentary on death and the attitude of humans toward it. Really, death granted Men a destiny that was unique from that of the Elves, but it was also a mystery that they had grown to fear, probably due to an unfamiliarity with--or mistrust of--their creator and origin.
This piece reconciles Tolkien's mythos with the Christian "mythology" of Adam, Eve, Satan, and death-through-sin by attributing it to a secret tradition of Men born from envy of the Elven lifespan. By doing this, he also critiques those who fear and resent death (by wishing for immortality) by saying, in effect, that they feel that way only because they do not understand death. Tolkien calls it a gift because he believed in a resurrection to life in Heaven, with God. Many readers equate Aman with heaven, but that is not where God (Eru) dwells. We can surmise, I think, that since Middle-earth is intended as an ancient mythology of our own world, the fate of Men was to be with Eru himself, although Tolkien presents it in his mythos as a mystery that Men considered "less" than immortality.
On a side note, what Andreth didn't consider was that without these unique fates, Men and Elves would simply be the same race. The connection to nature and the magical qualities of Elves come from their enormous lifespans and the nature of their fear.
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