Jessica Mitford wrote a book, entitled “The Embalming of Mr. Jones,” about the malpractices of funeral homes. The specific excerpt that I read described how bodies are embalmed. She wrote this to explain to the general public, who at the time were uneducated about what happens in funeral homes, about the exact way a body is embalmed and placed for display. Her book brought a better awareness to what really goes on in funeral homes. This made the government realize they must be more involved with what goes on, because funeral homes are just like any other businesses in addition to that they can increase the chances of creating a public health risk.
Embalming is a practice that has been done for ages. I believe that modern-day embalming techniques work splendidly. I have
Death has always seemed to be a topic of interest for mankind. Many different cultures have a lot of different traditions in relations to deaths and funerals. Fir example, I did not know until four years ago that most of the world did not know what a wake was. I found this out when I told my best friend that I was going to my grandfather’s wake. I was absolutely befuddled when she did not know what it was. That is when I discovered that the term wake was an Irish word. Viewings have been a tradition in nearly all cultures for centuries. Whatever people’s opinions are on the subject matter, I think people will always attend wakes either out of interest in the subject such as gaining more insight to their own feelings on death, or just for closure.