HW 50

Grave Matters

Precis: Jenny is a young college student who died. Her parents are at a funeral home trying to have a nice traditional, catholic funeral for their daughter. As they are meeting the funeral director he starts to pile on the costs. Everything that could possibly be charged was charged for the funeral. Picking up the body, transporting, embalming, etc. All the tricks of getting people to spend money at funeral homes are explored. The care of the dead is simply another business. Not only are people being exploited financially bt many of the practices cause highly toxic polution that is most times discarded in to the sewage system.

Quotes: "the average funeral in america runs to $10,000."

"Back upstairs, Fielding and the Johnsons come to the final selections. One concerns the "outer burial container," a requirement of Holy Savior (though not of any local, state, or federal law)

"Jenny has been cooling in his basement refrigerator unit since he retrieved her from the hospital last night."

Analysis: It is pretty obvious that the incentive is money, as it is a business after all. However, the amount of exploitation is unbelievable. It is the institutions we need most in this society that exploit us a screw us over the most. The food corporations, insurance companies, hospitals, funeral homes, all places where you think people would be treated with some kind of respect. The money incentive is so blatantly obvious that it is disgusting. The fact that a church requires additional costs with the "outer burial container" although it is completely unnecessary. It reminds me of a commerical is saw for a website called goddate or something along those lines. The website had the slogan "god will match you up." Even though thats pretty humorous it is the same thing that these funeral homes do.. They get you to spend money to have a truly traditional, religious funeral and burial.