Families can have a surplus of money left over if they decide to cremate the deceased instead of paying for a typical burial and funeral service. The amount of money left over is more than enough to pay for memorial diamonds or another type of keepsake that will last for years even after the funeral service is over.…
9. “As soon as the water table comes up, and the coffin gets wet, “Mack allows, “you’re going to have the same kind of decomposition you would have had if you hadn't done embalming” “Water reveres the chemical reactions of embalming, he says” (81).…
In the essay “The Embalming of Mr. Jones,” (1963), Jessica Mitford is describing a procedure of embalming of a corpse. She writes that people pay a ton of money each year, but “not one in ten thousand has any idea of what actually takes place,” and it is extremely hard to find books and any information about this subject. She assumes that it must be a reason for such secrecy, and may be if people knew more about this procedure, they would not want this service after their death.…
Early morticians were famously known for embalming the dead, which is accomplished by draining blood from the veins and injecting several gallons of chemical solution into an artery. The solution spreads throughout the body and soaks into all tissues, retarding decay (Funeral source 2). “During the ‘Dark Ages’ in Europe,(...) great advances were being made in medicine and bodies were needed for dissection [to further scientists’ understanding of the human anatomy]. For this sole purpose, embalming was practiced and techniques were perfected.” (Curtis D. Rostad 5). “Although embalming dates back to the ancient Egyptians, in the U.S. it began during the Civil War when it became necessary to preserve the bodies of dead soldiers for the trip home.” (Funeralwise). “Dr. Thomas Holmes received a commission as a captain in the Army Medical Corps and was assigned to Washington, D.C. where he reportedly embalmed over 4000 soldiers and officers. When he realized the commercial potential of embalming, Holmes resigned his commission and began offering embalming to the public for $100.” (Curtis D. Rostad 6). Morticians, or undertakers, stepped in with their embalming fluids and caskets, took over the responsibilities that pertained to dozens of separate careers relating to death and death care, and began selling their package services to the public.…
In the essay, “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” by English author and civil rights activist Jessica Mitford, she offers a peculiar narrative through her critique of the thoughts surrounding the funeral industry and the issue of death. It is clear her ultimate goal is to share many of the common practices of the funeral industry to her readers, and display how seemingly barbaric and often times senseless they are. Mitford’s purpose in this passage is to convey that if more people actually understood these practices exercised in the funeral industry, they might change, and the mystery of what goes on behind these taboo doors would be out in the open for the general public to understand and acknowledge. Mitford introduces her essay with a discussion…
Once a person passes away it is always a difficult time to for the family to make decisions regarding said person. However normally the person has already decided what they want to do with their remains. There are several options to choose from, to name a few: a traditional funeral with the casket, the flowers and etc., donating your body to science, or the remains can be cremated. No matter what is decided to do with the remains after death, there is no doubt that donated bodies are in for wild posthumous adventures that can either save lives or assist in new discoveries pertaining to the human physiology.…
I believe that the traditional funeral process is unnecessary for my family culture. As I have said in the discussion board we take a more humorously spiritual view on death. I believe that the soul leaves the body after death so visiting a tombstone isn’t as much of a big deal for me as it is for some of my peers, though I respect their views. I believe everyone is guaranteed to have their own views and values and we, as a people should adapt to those needs and create new and innovative ways to accommodate them.…
There are many challenges some of them would be if the body was buried or placed in a cool or cold environment which would slow down or completely stop decomposition. Another challenge would be if the body was burned or…
9)Greensprings Cemtery in upstate New York, Offers a full service funeral and burial that is non-toxic to the environment. All materials used in the burial are natural and will decompose with no negative impact.......…
1) The publics’ knowledge of embalming has changed. Like Jessica Mitford said not one in ten-thousand Americans really know what takes place during the embalming process. When embalming first began it was done in the home of the deceased, it was almost mandatory that a relative stay by the embalmers side and witness the whole procedure. Today it is totally reversed. All people, except apprentices are not to be in the room by law.…
What do all human beings have in common? Mortality, because everyone will die, everyone’s bodies will be subjected to burial. The question is, do people really want themselves exposed to embalming? Do they really wish for some stranger to tamper with their bodies, pinning their lips together creating angel like expressions? Do people really want their bodies being cut open for vanity purposes? The truth is most people are not aware of what goes behind those peaceful, content expressions on the deceased faces. Jessica Mitford exposes the cold truth in “Mortuary Solaces”. She examines the procedures that go into embalming and shares it with the public. Why? Because everyone will all have to go through this and should start considering if this service is really wished. Jessica Mitford believes this service must be sugar coated by embalmers because in reality embalming disrupts the human body in its moment of “peace”; it consists of painful procedures, phoniness, and cruel employees; truths that push away all costumers.…
Resomation is an alternative to cremation that helps the funeral industry and cuts down mercury emissions. The new technique of disposing a corpse is still not welcomed into potential clients mind frame do to the lack of information on the left over liquid once resomation is completed. I propose more research to be done on the liquid left behind and that the data collected to be shared with the general public. The research will be conducted within two years and six months with the result being a press release of our findings. I am asking for 1,388,800 dollars to fund this research and two years and six months to complete the project. With our findings clientele will be more aware of resomation and the components of the liquid that remains after completion.…
I think that anyone with a mild interest for science would too, and get a better worldview of death. I didn’t know much about cadaveric research and body donation, so I am glad I now know how beneficial and crucial it is to so many areas of research. It is strangely comforting to hear how people make a difference from the grave. Though I am positive my body is going straight into the dirt, I still commend those who do donate theirs. There is so much to learn from Stiff, and I hope that many other death ignorant people will read it also. This book answers so many questions, but raises twice as many. “We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.” (Roach…
The Battle began after Captain Benjamin Church leads his men into an ambush. While merely a handful of men died Church began to use this as a tale to preach in hopes of creating a nationalist community sparking from a common enemy. The story of how the natives would dismember and decapitate the dead left on the battlefield without a proper Catholic burial. Appalled by the stories of Church the Puritans began demanding that bodies be given a proper burial. This proved very difficult as the retrieval of the dead was the perfect set up for an ambush. If one was lucky enough and no ambush was made bodies would be hastily buried on the battlefield. This was a rarity as most bodies had been scavenged and as the customs of a proper burial took too…
In the U.S., a black market for human tissue exists. It usually involves bodies about to be cremated. A black market broker may enter into a financial arrangement with a criminally minded funeral home director and carve up the bodies before they're cremated. Falsified papers -- such as consent forms and death certificates -- are produced, and the tissue can then be sold to an American research facility. Sometimes, the tissue may be from a body with an infectious disease, but is sold with documents that claim a different cause of death or medical history. Illegally obtained tissue from just one cadaver…