Literary Analysis Essay on Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain by Jessica Mitford

Introduction

The sense of death breaks one's heart; but what are the happenings that occur behind the scenes before the funeral? Jessica Mitford, an author, is confident enough to bring this dark secret. In her development, she goes into great detail regarding the gruesome act performed on a loved one's body upon death. Her response is some recap with greater details throughout her paper. Through this reading, it is believed that some of these procedures performed on a loved one's body are to make money from deceased family members. Throughout her essay, Mitford tells about the process of embalming. Embalming is a process used to create a corpse presentable for viewing in the casket; a process which Mitford refers to a suitable costly container (Mitford 229). Those opposing the method of embalming claim that it is against ethics because funeral directors do not consult the family of the deceased before conducting the operation. To opposers, embalming is also against the law, mainly because presently funeral directors would try to persuade relatives to not be in attendance during the procedure. Those in support of embalming claim that it is unsanitary to have the deceased left around at room temperatures for long periods. Reading Mitford's development, it is clear that embalming is appalling. This essay tries to prove how embalming is a terrifying, heartless and illegal process.

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Terrifying

From the moment a person passes away, their body is transferred to the morgue, cleaned off and laid out. Before relatives could be consulted, the body is taken away so quickly so that the embalming process can begin. This seems heartless. In her development, Mitford referred to it as 'Preparing for Surgery' (Mitford 333). According to her, embalming is done to create a beautiful picture of the body. In essence, this is a case of refurbishing a dead body to normalcy, creating a feeling that the deceased's eternal sleep is beautiful. Such a process become pure business as stated that 'one must wonder at the docility of citizens who pay huge amounts of money each for perpetuation' (Mitford 337). In a study by Brenner, the quality of embalming is analyzed (Brenner 1). Brenner finds that funeral directors use a wide range of embalming chemicals that contain toxic solutions which could be harmful even to a dead body. Why should funeral directors use chemicals on a dead body and hide the process from relatives? Americans pay money when half the time they do not know what goes on behind the scenes. This tells that they are not entitled to see what is done to their loved one's body. The chemicals and incisions that are stuffed and injected into the body in itself are terrifying making the process of embalming unacceptable.

Heartless

Additionally, the process of embalming is heartless because funeral operators are out to extort money from mourning family members. Because these operators know that the family might pay good money, they go above and beyond their call of duty to make the family satisfied. This becomes a heartless business to offer to the public. Funeral operators take heed and notice the mornings of family members and provide them price packages. Because the operators know that the family wants the funeral to be remembered for as long as possible, they take advantage and offer high dollar prices and yet they do not allow family members see what is done until the process is complete. For example, in Mr. Jones instance by Mitford, the author manages to show how the process is done on the body of a human being. This becomes the essential evidence of body embalming that proves the process is disturbing and heartless. In another development by Ajileye, Esan & Adeyemi (2018), human embalming techniques are discussed in detail including the pricing and a breakdown of the method. The authors' point in this article is evident in the end that the practice of embalming is a hidden secret and could be used to exploit family members who are mourning.

Illegal

The fact that family members do not consent makes the process illegal and unacceptable. An indifference attitude towards body embalming develops when the process is done on the corpse without consulting the corpse neither the family of the deceased. Mitford is not for this practice also because family members are not permitted to be in attendance except for the funeral director and authorized individuals. What is the reason behind excluding other people in the preparation room if what is performed inside that room is legal? It could be that the patrons are afraid that the public could question the process and maybe turn it down (Mitford 227). A process that does not involve the critical audience is probably not legal. For instance, many other clinics procure abortion services and do not include the spouse of the patient either the family, but they manage to perform these services in secret because of the knowledge that it is illegal. This is the same case with embalming because the fact that it is done in secret could mean it is illegal.

Rebuttal

Those in favor of embalming claim that it is a necessary solution for preserving the body and preparing it for visitation by making it visually appealing. For them, it is 'unsanitary to leave the body of the deceased around room temperature for long periods' (Jorgenson 1). Many traditional funeral homes prefer embalming because it is the best option for slowing down the decomposition process. In addition to slowing down decomposition, those in support of embalming claim that the chemicals used to embalm a body enhance the appearance of the deceased returning their original color of hands and face. A common question raised by those in support is 'why would people want to bury the dead in a bad state yet they have an option of having their appearance modified?' Even so, the option to embalm is also a personal one, and therefore nobody is compelled to have their loved one go through it. Those who choose to have their loved ones embalmed for better appearance have an option to go through the process plus the money is theirs so it should not be a concern to others.

Conclusion

After looking and digging deeper into the practice of embalming, it is evident that people might not accept the process quite easily. However, the implication of allowing embalming as a practice is that those involved with continue to pay vast amounts of money and not be included in the process. With the drawbacks of this process, an implication of maintaining it is that those in the funeral industry will have to seek a law to protect them unless they are exposed. The point is that if more and more individuals understood this practice, funeral practices could change and the untold truth of what goes on behind the morgue's doors would be revealed for everyone to see. It does not matter whether embalming restored the body to its original shape; the process is exploitation and does not in any way help the grieving recover from their loss.

References

Ajileye, A. B., Esan, E. O., & Adeyemi, O. A. (2018). Human Embalming Techniques: A Review. American Journal of Biomedical Sciences, 10(2).

Brenner, E. (2014). Human body preservation-old and new techniques. Journal of anatomy, 224(3), 316-344.

Marinker, M., & Capra, F. (2018). Constructive Conversations About Health: Pt. 2, Perspectives on Policy and Practice. CRC Press. https://www.elementalnw.com/ufaqs/what-is-embalming-and-why-do-people-do-it/ Mitford, J. (2009). Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain. The American Way of Death, 466-73.