Death is a concept that people struggle to think about. Although it happens to everyone, the topic of death still causes a sense of not only heartache but avoidance. Even though death could happen at any moment, most people don’t think it would ever happen to them. These people never consider or talk about what they would like to happen if they did die for any reason. Within the short story, The Death of the Funeral Business, there are multiple instances where Sandy Hingston, the author, examines different types of ‘memorial services’. While talking about these different types of services, she investigates the different forms of body disposal. These types of disposal include a burial with funeral, burial without funeral, and cremation. Hinston …show more content…
In todays society it is common for families to have services for the dead, without the full funeral aspect. These are very new rituals that are becoming larger as time goes on. Hingston mentions ways that people set up different types of memorials or rituals by saying “And they do so in a setting whose grandeur-marble, mirrors, crystal, plush rugs- offer tribute to our loss in a solemn, satisfying way” (Hingston 41). Hingston depicts aspects of memorial services to be for the living. She continues to say “It’s an errand too overwhelming for us to face alone” (Hingston 41). People want to feel some type of control after they feel that they have lost it from losing a loved one. By deciding what the room will look like to a memorial service, people feel a sense of authority. With that, the service is decorated with kind reminders of who the deceased was. While not having the body present at the time of services, mourning becomes easier for family and loved ones by looking at pictures and discussing stories. As society is changing, technology is becoming more prevalent. Hingston shares a personal event of when her grandmother passed and only left one picture behind. She then continues to describe the funeral home she visited by saying “the home’s chapels have been fitted with discreet flat-screen TVs, for showing collages and tributes; prayer cards bear photos of the deceased instead of images of Christ. Victor just had a family that wanted to livestream a funeral service overseas” (Hingston 40). This particular quote helps Hingstons audience come to realization that funeral services are not how they were a century ago. Technology has evolved and society is labeling memorial services as not seeing the dead, but remembering them for who they were. Because the body is no longer a necessity for some at services, money and mourning have become less of an issue. Death can be looked at as
This article is a narrative. It does not aim to analyse the topic. It describes the author's experiences at the mortuary and the resulting disturbing thoughts she had.
Members of the funeral industry are united by the caring of the deceased. We take care of those who have died, and in doing so, we help those left behind grieve, mourn and accept their loss. It is a stable occupation, though most refer to it as a “calling”. The funeral industry accepts all most everyone. In the United States, there are more than 22,000 funeral homes. Amongst those funeral homes, there are approximately 102,877 workers. Of those 102,887 workers, there is estimated that there are 25,820 funeral directors and 8,190 embalming specialists. Most funeral homes are independent cells, unless they are part of a chain or a corporation. That said, each state has a board that oversees that state’s requirements for license and regulations, with a national board to rule of law and requirements. These boards usually hold conventions yearly to spread knowledge and draw attention to upcoming issues. To work as a funeral director or embalmer, someone must pass both their chosen state requirements and the national requirements. My personal connection to the funeral industry is that I am a funeral service intern, or a funeral director apprentice. I have worked at a funeral home for over two years.
The funeral was supposed to be a family affair. She had not wanted to invite so many people, most of them strangers to her, to be there at the moment she said goodbye. Yet, she was not the only person who had a right to his last moments above the earth, it seemed. Everyone, from the family who knew nothing of the anguish he had suffered in his last years, to the colleagues who saw him every day but hadn’t actually seen him, to the long-lost friends and passing acquaintances who were surprised to find that he was married, let alone dead, wanted to have a last chance to gaze upon him in his open coffin and say goodbye.
“In most human society's death is an extremely important cultural and social phenomenon, sometimes more important than birth” (Ohnuki-Tierney, Angrosino, & Daar et al. 1994). In the United States of America, when a body dies it is cherished, mourned over, and given respect by the ones that knew the person. It is sent to the morgue and from there the family decides how the body should be buried or cremated based on...
In Sandy Hingston’s “The death of the funeral business”, the story motivates people into moving into different sets of values or beliefs that weren’t acquainted in their previous ideas. I feel the understanding of change in culture is motivating the author. The time that she is living a time and era in which we as the people search for many ways to have freedom. This includes freedom of choice from the restraints of our own minds such as culture and beliefs we are so accustomed to. Hingston is seeing as a change on how we perceive our body because of the time and era it occurs in. One of the the biggest change in history is the since 1884 which introduced the use cremation. This later rose in popularity overtime in which it finally reached
Americans at the end of their lives no longer have this sense of continuity and stability. Rituals today are as likely to include tubes and noisy machines, artificial ventilators and unpleasant drug regimens bringing as many unpleasant side effects as health benefits. Many times the dying languishes in a hospital bed, surrounded not by the comforts of home and family but rather by sterility and bright lights, strangers and hushed voices. Death is no longer a mysterious part of a cherished tradition but a terrifying ordeal to be postponed as long as possible, an enemy that must be fought off at all costs.
In the essay “On the Fear of Death” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross focuses on dying and the effects it has on children as well as those who are dying, while in Jessica Mitford’s “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” focuses more on the after fact when the deceased is being prepared of their last appearance. Both authors, point out that the current attitude toward death is to simply cover it up. A successful funeral is when the deceased looks “Lyf Lyk” in Mitford’s Essay, but in Kubler-Ross’ it is dying at a peace with oneself, no IVs attached. Both authors feel that the current views of death is dehumanizing. Mitford points this out with the allusion that the funeral parlors are a theatrical play, while Kubler-Ross comments “I think there are many reasons
Is there such a thing as free will, what is the relationship between mind and body, and the true difference between right and wrong are a few questions about human existence that have plagued philosophers and average men alike since the days of Socrates and Aristotle. While not everyone may pay these questions much attention, there is one philosophical thought that has probably crossed the mind of every human at some point in time, and that is the concept of death and what happens after. There are widespread thoughts about what happens postmortem which range from the idea of immortality during the days of the ancient Greeks to the belief in reincarnation that is associated with many Eastern religions. These beliefs, along with others similar to them, provide some with a sort of safety net because they know that their essence (soul, spirit, etc.) will continue to exist after they pass. That being said, not everyone shares these opinions and for some the idea of death can be frightening. Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise examines this fear through Jack Gladney and several other characters. While the novel does not offer any answers, it does stimulate thought regarding death in modern society and how it should be handled. Although many of the characters try to do things such as ignore or embrace their fear in order to get it off their minds, Jack cannot shake his angst, all of which mirroring the various reactions people in today’s society have regarding death.
Most people dismiss anything having to do with death out of fear. The uncertainty some associate with death has caused Funeral Service to be a particularly taboo subject in society. One may assume funeral directors are the sketchy personalities enthralled with death, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Over the years, Funeral Service has progressed and become a larger industry. Funeral Service has changed in its history over time, affecting the education required, and the job they do today.
Death is something that no one wants to go through or have to deal with, especially concerning the loss of loved ones. Unfortunately, it is not possible to go through life without experiencing this loss. Throughout the past several decades, the way that we view death and the funeral industry has changed significantly. Recently, it has seemed much more apparent that funeral industries are using death as a means of getting rich. But why?
Post-mortem photography was once a very popular American practice in the mid to late 19th century, and it was considered a healthy practice by families grieving for their loved ones. Such photographs were labeled memento mori, remembrance photographs, or memorial photographs rather than simply post-mortem photos. Since the invention of the daguerreotype process, “portrait photographers offered postmortem photos as a special service” (Hilliker 247). Often, only the upper half of the corpse would be photographed, but it was also common for full-body pictures to be taken where the corpse would be shown as seated or sleeping, sometimes with family members posed alongside them (Hilliker 247-250). The photographs were commonly “mounted on walls in parlors and bedrooms,” and were also kept i...
In the face of the universal fact of death, attitudes to the corpse are various and changeable. These attitudes are formed through the practices of treatment of the dead and are embodied in various ways (Parker Pearson 1999, p. 45).
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily about finding meaning or coming to some overwhelming realization, but rather about feeling emotions and understanding the pain that the speaker is experiencing. Through the use of poetic devices such as an elegy, hyperboles, imagery, metaphors, and alliterations as well as end-rhyme, Auden has created a powerful poem that accurately depicts the emotions a person will often feel when the love of their live has passed away.
I was very excited to take Death and Dying as a college level course. Firstly, because I have always had a huge interest in death, but it coincides with a fear surrounding it. I love the opportunity to write this paper because I can delve into my own experiences and beliefs around death and dying and perhaps really establish a clear personal perspective and how I can relate to others in a professional setting.
The Theme of Death in Poetry Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are two Modern American Poets who consistently wrote about the theme of death. While there are some comparisons between the two poets, when it comes to death as a theme, their writing styles were quite different. Robert Frost’s poem, “Home Burial,” and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I felt a Funeral in my Brain,” and “I died for Beauty,” are three poems concerning death. While the theme is constant there are differences as well as similarities between the poets and their poems. The obvious comparison between the three poems is the theme of death.