HW 52 - Third Third of the COTD Book

  The life of funeral company employe is more complicated then the normal eye can see. Funeral companies main goal is to gain revenue, to do so they do whatever to please their customers. Afterlife is a significant component of the funeral business because of the fact that most customers believe that there is more to death then someone rotting in the ground. The customers beliefs are not always the same and are not always what we feel are correct but we do what makes them happy and helps our business prosper.

“but the truth is, the non-Jews are more fascinated by this tan the jews. Maybe people are searching for something.”(181)

“This isn't my life.For me its a project.I can walk away.Not so for the families who are stuck with their grief, or even the family undertakers who are stuck with one another.”(205)

“I talked to people who jump walls just so they can see their family”(243)

Curtains by Tom Jokinen was a great read and I wouldn’t mind reading another book written by him. Throughout the book he explained the life of someone who was involved in the funeral business. It was interesting to read about all the different stories he had and it helped me understand “death” more. Afterlife is big part of “death” because of the fact that our society looks to the afterlife for comfort. We believe that there is a better place afterlife. Curtains was similar to one of the books I read in the sick and illness unit; My brother by Jamaica Kincaid, I enjoyed reading both of these books because it was more of a personal experience then facts and important history statistics which made the book a interesting read. After reading this book It helped me understand that as long as people continue to die, the funeral business will continue living on. 

HW 51 - Second Third of COTD Book

               Second part of the book; Curtains even more interesting then the first section of the book. Throughout this 2/3 of Tom Jokinen gives us insights on the life of a person in the funeral industry. Jokinen rigorously describes situations he encountered during different funeral processes. He touched on burial as well as cremation but more thorough about the cremation process. Tom’s experiences were helpful enough to give us insight on how the funeral business functioned. Jokinen helped readers realize, Funeral homes aren’t all the same but one thing they all have income is; revenue is the main goal.

“Since I thought I would have to pick the woman up by her ankles and shake her upside down until the nickels fell out of her tracksuit pockets and her dentures skittered across the floor.” (105)

“But it seemed to me he was doing what the script told him to do; put people at ease by lightening the mood. That was his role. (119)

“I think i would like to be cremated and scattered somewhere nice.” (163)

       I sincerely enjoyed reading this section of the book. I did because of the way the stories were told. I felt like he was being completely honest about every situation. It was interesting that he decided to use humor, I feel he did this to take away from the fact that he has to deal with death and grief on a daily basis. I believe that I would handle these situations the same way because death and grief are things that are almost impossible to ignore. If Jokinen continues to write this way he will continue to draw readers in and keep readers focused and interested in a very controversial topic.

HW 49 - Comments on Best of Your Break HW

Comments on Jasper’s Post:

Jasper I enjoyed reading your post because the questions you decided to ask where questions I was curious about. The different interviews were significant to the post because you were able to get more then one opinion and point of view. The thing that stood out the most to me was how you compared your personal beliefs to the people being interviewed beliefs. Keep up the good work.

Comments on Amanda’s post

Great blogpost Amanda, thanks for making the text bold, defiantly made the post stand out. I enjoyed reading your blogpost. I liked the way you talked about a personal experience with death even though it was a gold fish. This helped show that even something as small as a goldfish can be a big deal when it comes to death. Keep up the good work.

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 Amanda said; Hey Javon,

Firstly I thought it was wise to interview someone from another religious background that way you can obtain an an alternative understanding (based on religion) of the care of the dead. Your second interviewee expressed a more positive side to death in my opinion; i thought he was saying you wont have control when your dead. make sure you take care of your business around your death while your alive so it can easily benefit those around you after your gone. I enjoyed how you threaded your responses to the answers throughout your post.

Jasper said; 

I liked your post because it brought up a lot of aspects about death that I haven't even thought about since starting the unit. Such as the part where you say that people get more respect and “a lot of people who act like they care”.. This made me think about why does death change how everyone thinks about you? I also never thought: is the care of the dead even significant? Does it even matter what you do with the person once they're dead? It made me think a lot.. Good post.

HW 50 - First Third of Care-of-the-Dead Book Post

Tom Jokinen author of Curtains is taking on the life an undertaker after living a typical American life. This life was strange and mind blowing but eventually he knew he had to get use to it just like everyone else. He explores the way’s of funerals as well as cremation. There is more to the inside life of an undertaker then one believes there is. Jokinen explains that death and care of dead has become more of an business then anything else.

“We in the funeral service cover the gap. People pay us to keep to ourselves what goes on in there.”(5)

“Fine, I say. But your still putting the body, the emblamed body, into a steel casket, with a rubber gasket in a cathodic bar to keep away rust, and then the works go into a vault. hat are we exatly protecting.”(40)

“I look into the open grave, at the dirt on the lid and the sheaf and dried weat, and I think of what Neil said; The funeral home work very much like the family farm”(73)

When first reading the book; Curtains I was interested in what the life an undertaker would be like and was surprised to hear the real life an undertaker. I was able to visualize the shocking life an undertaker. I enjoyed reading the first section of the book because of the way it was written. It was advantage that the book was written in a way were i felt like I was being told a personal story not just a bunch of facts and historical dates were thrown at me. Even though it was only the first section of the book some of my questions on the care of dead have already been answered, such as; How are bodies treated before we get to see them laying in a casket before a funeral? I am anxious to read the next two sections of the book to further my understanding on the care of the dead.

HW 48 - Family Perspectives on the Care of the Dead

Death is something I am still very confused and curious about, due to this I decided to interview two older members of my family. During both interviews I asked questions such as; Do you have plans for when you die?, How do you feel about death?, etc... The lost of the person who is being interviewed grandmother had a big impact on her. She felt as if it was not her time to go, because of this she was sad but ultimately frustrated and upset. The dominant social practices for the care of the dead are usually funerals and burials. During my first Interview I found it interesting that that the person I decided to interview said; “funerals are overrated and people shouldn’t mourn as much as they do” She agreed that there should be funerals but they should not be take up so much of the mourning process. This lead me to another interesting question; Why do most people tend to mourn for a large period of time if majority of those people try there hardest to not think about death as well as avoid it? 

The second interview included my Father and I who is 38 years old. I asked him similar questions to the questions that were included in the first interview. In this interview my father believed that funerals were very significant because mourning is a huge part of the care of the dead. Mourning is significant because mourning helps one get passed the pain that the experienced because of the death. The most fascinating part of this interview was when i asked him; Do you have plans for when you die? He answered; “everything is already planned” this was very interesting to me because at an early age such as 38 years old someone can already have plans on dying. This lead me to the conclusion that people avoid and prolong death as much as they can but everyone knows their expiration date will come sooner then they know it.

HW 47 - Peer Perspectives on the Care of the Dead

Death has always been something I’ve been curious but also confused about. To get a better understanding of death and how society views it I choose to interview a few of my peers. The first person I decided to interview was a close friend who is also 17 but has a completely different religious background. One of the questions I decided to ask him was; “What are your first thoughts when hear the word; death?” He responded; “Funerals and a lot of people who act like they care” I asked him can he elaborate on “a lot of people who act like they care” He said ; “People cry and whine about the death of someone who they hardly or didn't show any affection or love to them when they were alive.” This was very interesting to me because it connects to one of the questions i posted in homework #46; Why do people get more respect and recognition when they are dead? This was also interesting to me because from personal experience, I have witnessed the same thing. Due to his response to my question I will defiantly want to do more research on why people get more respect and recognition when they are dead. I also asked him; “How significant is the care of the body after life?” Due to his beliefs he answered “I don't think it is as important as people think it is because no one will ever know what “the afterlife” is so why put so much effort into burials and funerals.”

The next person I decided to interview was an individual at my internship. He was only a few years older then me but had similar beliefs. I asked him; Which method would you prefer for your body when you pass away? He stated that; “I will like to be cremated because I want to always be with my loved ones I don’t want them going out there way to the cemetery to go talk to a tombstone.” This was fascinating to me because most people want to be buried but he was so confident about what he wanted to do. This lead me to the question; “How significant do you think a “will” is?” He told me; It is extremely important because you no longer have control when you are dead. I am not only living for my self but for my potential family.” He is referring to the his girlfriend and the baby he is about to have with her in a couple of months. I found this response very interesting because it shows how important one person is to other people’s lives. 

My final interview included another friend of mine who also had similar beliefs on the care of the dead. I asked her; “How do you feel about death and how do you feel about the way people are treated after they die” She answered; “ I don't want to die, who does? When it’s my time to go its my time to go.” This was an answer I was planning on getting from someone who also follows the same religion. Throughout my years I’ve noticed that most Catholic and Christian people put there lives in the hands of God and feel that God has a plan for everyone. The following question I asked her was; “How do you feel and act at funerals” She quickly responded; I hate them because I always cry even if I don't know the person well.” I was confused about the last part of her answer so I asked her; why do you always cry? I got a very interesting response; It feels like the right thing to do, everyone is suppose to be sad and mourning.” This was extremely interesting to me because it shows the standards society sets on the care of people after they die. 

After I ended the interview I could not stop thinking about the answer she gave me. I was confused about how people fake their feelings just because they feel “it’s the right thing to do” I found it very interesting that the first person I interviewed didn’t care much about funerals and after life because those are aspects majority of our society feel’s is very significant. From all three of these interviews I learned about how important people’s lives are to others and they also helped me gather and create new critical questions for the unit.

Hw#46: Care of the dead

Death is one thing that majority of us try to avoid but death is one of the few things that is promised. We all try to define and give our opinions on what death is but the true is no one will ever be able to clearly and accurately define the process. This is why I find death so fascinating. There is a substantial amount of questions about death but majority of those questions people can’t answer accurately.

Society teaches people to honor and acknowledge people more when they are dead. I was taught to never talk bad about a dead person and show respect for the dead. The passing of my great-grandmother was like someone sticking a dagger through my family’s heart. The matriarch of our family is now gone, what were we going to do without her? The day of her funeral there were such a massive amount of people there I was overwhelmed. This lead me to the question; why is it that people are respected and acknowledged more when they are dead?

After life is a significant part of our culture and is a significant part of every religion. Different religions have different ways of honoring someone after they are no longer alive. Some ways to honor or show respect to the dead are to have funerals and bury the dead body. Even though religions might have different views of what they should do with the body after the person is dead each religion believes that this body is sacred and holy. Why do people believe that the afterlife is extremely sacred if no one can clearly explain or express what the afterlife really is since they personally didn’t experience it nor know anyone who experienced it?