Jessica Mitford “The Story of Service”
Death is something that’s difficult to think about, but it is something that is consistently in the back of everyone’s mind. We try not to think of the process that goes into funeral planning, preparation of the body, and the process of mourning, but they are all important aspects that should be considered before someone close passes away. Throughout Jessica Mitford’s book, The American Way of Death Revisited, she expressly outlines every aspect of death and the pricy costs that are attached. Mitford elegantly displays a singular message to the reader, there are hidden costs in our deaths that are not only unnecessary, but disturbing. There isn’t a ton of information out there that truly explains the process of embalming, the prices of caskets, and the overall theme of a every day funeral. Mitford states, “Yet no law requires embalming, no religious doctrine commends it, nor is it dictated by considerations of health, sanitation, or even of personal daintiness” (Mitford 43) What is significant about this is that, embalming is unnecessary yet it’s still hidden in the bill following the funereal. Much like embalming, hidden costs are common in every funeral. Newspapers, cemetery workers, clergymen, the overall 120 some odd hours of hard labor that is put into every funeral. Although Mitford makes sure to question those 120 hours, the ridiculousness of all the unneeded services showing up on the bill has brought light to my eyes. The funeral industry is exactly what is sounds like. An monopolized industry. Mitford also writes, The very term “embalming” is so seldom used that the mortician must rely upon custom in the matter…unless the family specifies otherwise, the act of entrusting the body to the care of a funeral establishment carries with it an implied permission to go ahead and embalm.” (Mitford 44) It’s sickening to think that embalming is something that is not only not well known among things that happen during a funeral, but it’s also something that is essentially hidden from grieving family members. You look at a corpse in the casket, but you don’t know that so many horrific things have happened behind closed doors to get it there. What’s also significant to point out is that the embalmer might be just as uneducated as a high school teenager. Mitford explains, “imitative surgeons, as is his technique, acquired in nine or twelve months post-high school course at an embalming school” (Mitford 45). It’s so surprising that only a short course following high school graduation could lead someone to cutting someone open and handling the preparation of a corpse.
