Interviews
Mom - I started by giving my mother an overview on the unit and topic in general and she had pretty good background knowledge on the topic already, so I kept the questions to a minimum and let her tell me her stance and ideas on the care of the dead. One thing she said that stood out to me the most was "it's like anything then can possibly charge you to do, they do." Then she talked about how even with a cremation they can charge thousands of dollars; they charge you separately to take the ashes out, give it you in a presentable way, transport the ashes and body, etc. Like she said practically anything you can think of. She then told me that the only way to get creamated and keep it relatively cheap is if you have them give u the ashes in a plastic bag. She told me about a friend who had the remains of his brother in a plastic bag. I then asked her how she would like to be cared for after she died. She said creamation, due to the fact that it's cheaper than a burial. She wanted top keep it simple and cheap. Makes sense to me.
Dad - My dad had a bit of a different take then my mom. My dad said he would like to have a burial. Although he did not want to have something fancy and complicated, not to mention expensive he wanted a simple burial. He felt that it is a way for people to hold on to memories or place people can go to remember him. He jokingly said he wanted a burial so people could come worship him.
Both perspectives and takes on death were pretty common. The two options most popular in the US are cremation and burial, I do not know of any other rituals practiced in US. I think my mom made a very good point pointing at the money incentives because after all the care of the dead is a business. This has been a reoccurring theme in all of our units, the incentive for profit screws up a lot of different institutions in our society. My Dad's take was also a common one although they both expressed the fact that spending so much money is pretty unnecessary. My families perspective is does not differ to much from the norm; However, there are not many option presented to us and therefore it is uncommon that someones care for the dead loved one in any other way then cremation or burial.
Omar,
ReplyDeleteI liked your blog because it was very similar to mine. I also interviewed my parents and what they said was almost identical to what your parents said. This made me wonder if this was a popular opinion based upon the fact that we are both living in New York City in the year 2011 or if it is just a coincidence that they said same things. I thought that your blog was very well researched and written but it would have been nice if you had interviewed more adults.
Dean
Omar
ReplyDeleteYour post was well written and a made a very good point. There is a theme that is common throughout the units which is that the motive for profit screws up different systems in our society. I like the fact that you stated that cremation was also a popular option in the united states primarily because it is cheaper (i didn't know that before).