Précis:
The total funeral cost for Jenny Jennings was $12, 376. This included the price of the casket, coffin, coffin protector or “the vault”, preacher service, preservation service or embalming, an hearse, entertainment in the form of musicians, and some minor costs such as the dress the girl in the casket would wear. Funeral directors do not tell their customer that embalming is not mandated by law, it is just an extra practice that just increases the cost of the funeral. Embalming requires a lot of expensive chemicals that are always bought in excess and the surplus is discarded into the sewers. The chemicals are highly toxic and they litter the sewers and make them an even more dangerous place than it already is. Burials that follow this routine cost an average of $10,000 and it is the most popular method of taking care of the dead in the United States. The next most popular technique is cremation. When a body is cremated, it is exposed to very high temperatures and is reduced to grain sized particles which are referred to as ashes. An average cost of a cremation is $1,800 and even lower if you decide to use a basic casket instead of a fancy one. Also, there are fewer pollutants released into the environment when one is cremated in a cardboard casket instead of a steel one.
Quotes:
- “Like most of his clients, the Johnsons don’t think to question Fielding's request to embalm, even though the GPL states that embalming isn’t required by law.” (Harris, 8)
- “What’s best really depends on personal preference and how one feels about the value of protecting a loved one, Fielding offers. ‘I’ll leave you now and let you peruse as much as you like. If you have any questions I’ll be just outside the door.’” (Harris, 13)
- “For almost a hundred years Americans have been handing their dead over to the care of an industry that has turned the funeral into a too standard, expensive, resource-intensive, and, to many families, sterile act.” (Harris, 47)
Analysis:
Before reading the book, I read the Preface so I would be more prepared for what I would find in the book. I was shocked to see how many different methods and techniques there were when it comes to taking care of the dead. After reading the first three chapters, it became clear to me what this course is about. Andy, you’re showing us silly extravagant methods that Americans practice on a daily basis and telling us why it is that we are completely blind to the other alternative methods, which are arguably better, are out there. Even though you say that you want us to chose for ourselves which method is better, I think more than 90% of the students would just follow what is said in the book; a greener funeral. I am not saying that this is bad; I am definitely among the 90% of those students. It is just finny to see how easily our opinions can change even though the dominant discourse in the United States is still the more expensive and industrial way of doing things. I like how in Grave Matters, Mark Harris lays out the facts in a logical format. He starts the book by talking about the most extravagant and non-eco friendly method and moves on to a method that is a bit more green than the previous. I look forward to reading about more eco-friendly and more economic methods of taking care of the dead because the prices are only like to increase because more and more people will try to be greener and greener is usually more expensive.
