Homework 52- COTD Book Part 3.

The American Way Of Death Revisited- Jessica Mitford.
Précis:
The proceeds of embalming has evolved since it was created in ancient Egypt. When the Egyptians embalmed, it was to keep the body preserved for mummification. Now when we talk about embalming it isn't about preservation, it's about aesthetics. Funeral directors prefer somebody to be enbalmed because it's an easy way to make money. What is done with embalming can be dome just as well with refrigeration. But don't tell a funeral director that, he'll have an extended list about why embalment is necessary.
Funeral directors, morticians, cemetery owners, and every other person in the business of death trys to take advantage of customers. Whether it's lying to them about laws or creating drawn out sales plans, they are worrying about themselves, NOT THE CUSTOMER. Over time it is sad we haven't seen a change in these methods, in this business. Sometimes the people in the business of death get away with this, other times they get a bad rep, and deservingly so. But nobody trys to change it. And that is why I wrote this book. To educate and raise the awareness of the general public. One day I hope that people stand up for themselves and demand change. But until then, try not to get tricked.
Quotes:
"His last words- "Bring me my porridge" - while not earth-shattering, have at least the merit of being historically accurate" (Mitford, 153).

(Stolen from Martyna, but it's a great quote) "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).

Analysis:
I connected this book to the food unit last post, saying that big issue is individuals (companies) being greedy and trying to maximize profit at the cost of the general public. For this post I'll connect it to the birth unit.
The care of the dead is unlike the birth unit because in the birth unit there was alternatives. There are midwives who provide equal care at a lower price, using the correct techniques. But for the dead there is no midwife. Most of the time if you try to follow any conventional standards you're going to be sucked in to this over priced world. I haven't heard of a logical way to avoid any of this yet. It's sad, but so true. We have one death system, and even though it isn't logical to use this system, we have to.
For overall analysis of this section I think it was just showing how embalming is another process that makes the American death system and then a wrap up for the book. I could have predicted her talking about embalming and it's non-uses because A. We talked about it in class, reading a short exerpt. B. It fits in, she went to talk about how we have a bunch of overpriced processes with little use. I don't understand it though, funeral homes can still make money of refrigeration and not go through the grueling process of embalment. It is from what I've read, extremely difficult. If I were a funeral director I'd encourage the refrigeration of the body, at half the cost of embalment. It would still be making money at less work for everyone involved.
Overall this was a good book, Mitford has a good, sarcastic sense of humor. It did remind me of Born In the USA by Marsden Wagner. It had similar writing styles and approaches to topics.