Analysis Of Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers By Mary Roach
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It was in the book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers that Mary Roach expressed her opinion and stated facts about how a cadaver is used. In the book Roach wrote, "On a rational level, most people are comfortable with the concept of brain death and organ donation. But on an emotional level, they may have a harder time accepting it” (Roach, 188). The reason that organ donation is difficult for people is because of the fear they have of death and the idea of their souls connecting through transplants. The linkage of our physical body to our spiritual body is done symbolically and examined by Roach.
According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act correspondingly to their general…show more content… From the Ancient Egyptians, to the Babylonians, to the rise of classical Greece the soul is in our organs, not just the heart. Roach said, “Though Pythagorus and Aristotle viewed the heart as the seat of the soul- source of “vital force” necessary to live and grow- they believed there to be a secondary “rational” soul, or mind, located in the brain” (Roach 176). We have a hard time breaking the link between the physical and the soulful because humans want to put the symbolism behind the things that keep them alive. Our hearts are at the center of our body and keep pumping to keep us from being dead; therefore we want to use symbolism and say that our soul is in the midst of us, which is the center where the heart is. As humans, symbolic interaction can explain how we want to use the idea of our brain storing our personalities and not just used physically to control vital muscles and body parts.
As Valentine’s Day approaches the symbolism of our hearts is more evident and we can see that it is a large part of our everyday lives. We have a hard time accepting the idea that our body and soul are two separate things because we “feel” that they are not. When Roach said that we have a hard time on an emotional level to accept organ donations it is because of the symbolism that is paired with our body parts. As humans we do not know how to handle the idea…show more content… Although, cadavers are used in different areas of science, it is extremely valuable to use a cadaver for the safety of others. In chapter four of Stiff, “human crash test dummies and the ghastly, necessary science of impact tolerance” gives an excellent representation of how a cadaver can be used and possibly preserved. I have been in a car crash and have felt the impact of an air bag, so there is great value to the cadaver UM 006. Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability (Boundless). The functionalist view gives a greater perspective of a cadaver being a working part in the societal system promoting stability. There is stability in safety and there is safety in testing the impact of a car