Sandy Hingston's The Death Of The Funeral Business

1448 Words6 Pages
In Sandy Hingston’s “The Death of the Funeral Business” the story motivates people into moving into different sets of values or beliefs that weren’t acquainted with their previous ideas. The author takes on multiple stories to show the change of a traditional style of burial to other methods. The author researches through these stories on why this is occurring during our society which is severely effecting the funeral business. The main part of this is it will explain why Hingstons purpose is to acknowledge the societal change in what we do with our bodies after death. As through reading and analyzing the text, feel the arrangement gives a good sense of purpose. The set up the text is collective stories from different perspectives of people…show more content…
A traditional American funeral on average costs $8,300 where as cremation costs $1,400. This can represent that some people will then push their beliefs aside to save money based of their economic status. With Americans experiencing a recession. It alternates on there thoughts if they want to buried or not, especially effects low-income individuals. Funeral directors dropped nineteen percent from 2001 to 2011. Author expresses this to show the economical impact on the funeral business which its causing them to lose jobs. John Erikson a executive director of the Pennsylvania Funeral Home Directors Association reports in the text, “Classes used to be made up of men and women from funeral-home families…Now women make up 60 percent or more, and the majority aren’t affiliated with funeral home families” (Hingston page.41). This is another example of economical loss from the change in the methods. The author tries to show the loss of the funeral business as much as she can by mentioning problems such as cemeteries are going into bankruptcy. Anthropologist Janet Monge stated, “No ones going to take care of cemeteries” (Hingston page.43). This go directly on saying the lack of jobs and demand to take care of cemeteries due to the ongoing changes in body disposal…show more content…
Technology has already become a big involvement in most lives and now being used in death and memory. Cremation and some other methods like alkaline hydrolysis (acid that dissolves the body) are a big technological advancement that hit the business. Based of the text, the business fights back by being involved in the technological advancements. Home chapels now are fitted with TV’s, for collages and tributes of the deceased. They even now have website for families to have online memorial service. The author here is trying to then shift the readers on seeing how technological advancements can alter traditional methods and customs. This big focus on the change has become instead of focusing on the person who died and knowingly they wont back, they idea focuses on how they want to remembered as in todays
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