HW 52 - Third Third of "The American Way of Death"

    Most cultures have their own tradition concerning death and the ceremonies that follow. Embalming, which was first practiced in ancient Egypt, has changed its purpose and has gotten more and more popular over the years. In some religions and cultures, however, embalming is not accepted at all, due to many strange reasons which are difficult to discuss. 

    The embalming part of the funeral industry grows very fast and develops almost with every embalmment performed. The more popular it gets, the more expensive the whole process becomes. Funeral directors/embalmers/morticians are not keen to introduce newcomers into their small "community".  

    It is not surprising that morticians do not enjoy the presence of fervid parishioners or ministers who accompany their customers. They are seen as a threat  to sellers who do their best to eliminate the vicars' opinions from the buyers' choice.

    The industry of funerals and death care is constantly increasing and improving as funeral directors gain experience with mourning families. Of course all the changes and issues have not come across without controversies. Funeral homes often have a poor reputation either due to their overall aura or the treatment of customers. They have been trying to address this issue multiple times but it is rather unlikely that people will ever change their mind about companies which deal with death and funerals.

    Offering pre-need sale, funeral homes trick customers into making seemingly good decisions while taking more money for it than they should. However, with people researching about the world around them, there is still hope for society to become more aware of everything that goes on in the funeral industry.

Quotes I enjoyed:

• "Charlemagne was embalmed and, dressed in imperial robes, placed in a sitting position in his tomb" (Mitford 144).

•  "He is in any case not just a funeral salesman. There is the creative aspect of his work, the aesthetically rewarding task of transforming the corpse into a Beautiful Memory Picture" (Mitford 151).

•  "[Sir Joseph's] last words- "Bring me my porridge" - while not earth-shattering, have at least the merit of being historically accurate" (Mitford 153).

•  "Just in case the point has not been thoroughly clarified, a theirs writer describes in further detail how best to lure the unsuspecting man of God from the side of his parishioners […]" (Mitford 165).

•  "I mean, if I died of jaundice I would rather have a jaundice-colored casket for myself. Just so with scarlet fever, I should have a red one" (Mitford 179).

• "And SCI directive to its Australian employees reads like a TV miniseries script, complete with stage directions" (Mitford 192).

•  "A cartoon depicts a group of sorrowing goldfish gathered round a lavatory bowl in which one of their number floats belly-up. The caption: "He always wanted an open casket." " (Mitford 220).

In my analysis of the first third of the book, I compared "The American Way of Death" to Wagner's Born in the USA". After reading this book, I realize my first impression was quite wrong. Mitford does not simply introduce a topic then support it with anecdotes. In each chapter, she does provide anecdotes and research, but also constantly introduces new ideas and analyses. In addition, Mitford made her book fairly more entertaining to read (with all due respect to Wagner). The author of the book about birth certainly was of a more happier topic to write about, but did it in a simple way. On the other hand, the book about death and funerals had a glum and sad theme, but the author made it easier to read through her sense of humor and sarcasm. Despite my fear of death and love of new life, I must say I enjoyed Mitford's book much more than Wagner's.