Harris, Mark. Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial. New York, NY: Scribner, 2008. 70-123. Print.
Précis:
Many residence along costal regents of the United States chose to spread cremation ashes at sea. This costs thousands of dollars less then typical burials. It costs around $140 after cremation fees (around $1,000) to do a sea burial unless it is done independently. Another way of doing a sea burial is pouring remains into a statement mold and creating a synthetic reef. This causes up to $1,000 but is still considerably less then the typical funeral. Besides cremation there are other means of naturally caring for dead bodies. Some modern families chose to care for dead loved ones the same way Americans did it 100 years a go by doing at home. Traditionally, a corps would be kept out on display for up to 5 days in the mourning families house. This continued until the 19th century when the funeral industry was born. Now it is illegal in some states (including New York) for people to conduct the traditional home funeral.
Quotes:
Page 103: “from the chest down she had been covered with a home made quilt and a sprinkling of rose petals. In her hands, crossed at the chest, there lays a single pink rose”
Page 72: directly after someone buries their father, “I was overcome with this huge, profound feeling of release.”
Page 118: “The end is certainly sad, but my feeling was also that Mary was freed at last from the body that had been weighing her down and causing her pain for so long”
Page 118: “Like that bird my daughters painted on the coffin, Mary could now soar away to a better place.”
Analysis:
The middle section of the book was certainly based on what the writer thought was the more natural and holistic. In the first part of the book he discusses the negative industrial aspects. The tone of his writing switches when he talks about the natural care for dead people. Then in the second third of the book it switches. All the sudden he makes care of the dead seem glamorous and beautiful. He describes the emotional event that families go through when they are left in charge of their dead family member. Although he uses statistical evidence, historical evidence, and personal interviews as means of proving his point, the author still manages to distort the readers emotional reaction to the facts with his ways of describing the work.
The middle section of the book was certainly based on what the writer thought was the more natural and holistic. In the first part of the book he discusses the negative industrial aspects. The tone of his writing switches when he talks about the natural care for dead people. Then in the second third of the book it switches. All the sudden he makes care of the dead seem glamorous and beautiful. He describes the emotional event that families go through when they are left in charge of their dead family member. Although he uses statistical evidence, historical evidence, and personal interviews as means of proving his point, the author still manages to distort the readers emotional reaction to the facts with his ways of describing the work.
I think what happens to the body should be left to the living to select because it can determine how people get over the death of a loved one. The family’s described in these few chapters demonstrate more compassion and approval of the way that their dead loved ones are cared for. The woman mentioned above from page 103 seems to be content and happy. But really she appeases the people who are viewing her. The idea of home funerals seems great because it gives families freedom to morn the way they want to. One thing that really bothered me was that home funerals are illegal in New York State. So many New Yorkers are deprived of the ability to morn in the way that they want to for there loved ones. I have decided to do further research on this law for my final death project.
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