My experiences with the care of dead people are quite interesting. My first experience with death was when I was in 3rd grade. My Uncle from my mom's side had just had us go to his house about a month or two before his death so we could help him "clean up". Now at the age of 7 I wasn't smart enough to realize that we were helping him clean out his house because he was going to die soon, and wanted to give some mementos to us. That was the last time I ever saw him alive. Now while in school doing a play called Little Shop Of Horrors I got a notice to leave immediately and go straight home. I arrived home about an hour after the notice and my mother broke down the situation to me. She didn't leave out anything even explaining to me the way he died (AIDS). About a week later it was time for the funeral. We met up in Brooklyn,New York and drove a limousine to the funeral site. I specifically remember being in the car with all my cousins who ranged from ages 5-10 us all crying at the same time and realizing our uncle was never coming back,and we weren't even going to see what he looked like. Since it was such an emotional experience it has lingered in my long term memory, thus resulting in a clear and accurate story.
The way I've been taught to think towards dead people is to show respect to them since their dead. If you don't they may come back to life and haunt you forever. I've been taught to act towards dead people in a respectful way. If you see one you should call the cops immediately, and that they can never come back to life in their physical bodies again.
As for my immediate knowledge about care of the dead, I think I know all the basic insights that someone my age should know. I believe it;s illegal to not bury/cremation a dead person. When I say illegal I mean as in you can't keep the body in your backyard. The most common one being, dead people begin to smell after a while and there is a very distinct smell. When were asked to think of what we already know about Care of The Dead in class, almost everyone talked about their experiences with funerals burials,and cremations. It surprises me that funerals are so expensive. It's actually ridiculous my grandmother's funeral was $11,000. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of cremation but I think it would be considered an alternative to the dominant social practice which would be funeral burial.
Questions:
1.How did past cultures(Ancient Greeks,Ancient Romans, Mayans, Aztecs) deal with the care of their dead?
2.Are the alternatives social practices more difficult to reach/attain as they have been in the previous units?
3. Is it more socially acceptable to have a funeral burial or be cremated, and is that an alternative to the dominant social practices?
4.Has there been much movement to prevent the nightmarish industrial atrocities, and if so how are we comparing to other countries with this atrocity( Example: Is Care of The Dead more humane in Japan oppose to America, and how can we fix this?)?
5. Where did the superstition of ghosts come from, did it have something to do with the way we treat dead people?
6. What rituals surrounding the care of the dead are there?
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ReplyDeleteAbdul,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. I imagine that your emotions at the age of 9 were very raw and influential. I've actually never heard a story quite like the one you mentioned in your first paragraph. The act of going to another's house to choose mementos seems odd to me...I wonder why you chose to use "clean up" as a euphemism - it would have been interesting if you had explained why you subconsciously used the euphemism. I really liked your use of detail in line 7 of paragraph 1, "That was the last time I ever saw him alive. Now while in school doing a play called Little Shop Of Horrors I got a notice to leave immediately and go straight home." You created a clear scene in my mind that somehow seems very familiar but I am not sure why.
I feel as if I can connect to the whole concept of having to be struck with news of a dying relative as a young adolescent. All that seems to be necessary to do is to cry over and over. Please clarify this sentence: "If you see one you should call the cops immediately, and that they can never come back to life in their physical bodies again." It doesn't make sense to me according to the context of the short paragraph written.
Although vague, the $11,000 you mentioned was interesting. To think that giving peace to the dead would be priceless - who thought? The number certainly was thought-provoking and you should've furthered your ideas on that topic. You could've asked yourself: "What makes the seeing off of the dead worth the $11,000 cost, negligible?"
----Great Post. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Bianca
Abdul,
ReplyDeleteYou had very interesting stories to share, your family is truly unique. I'm very sorry for your lost but to hear your emotions and thoughts as a young child was incredibly interesting. Not many people are able to stare into the face of death like you are. You are very gutsy like "Bianca" said I'm not sure if I would have had the guts to go to another person's house and interview them about such a topic. Your most beautiful line was " Now at the age of 7 I wasn't smart enough to realize that we were helping him clean out his house because he was going to die soon, and wanted to give some mementos to us." This is something that basically everyone who has an experience with death at a young age can relate to.
Something you could have done better is to clarify this sentence "as for my immediate knowledge about care of the dead, I think I know all the basic insights that someone my age should know." It doesn't make and sense to me since you didn't actually state any of the basic insights you know, or that Americans are expected to know.
As usual I'm pleased with your consistent posts and as always I enjoy reading your work. Good job
Stephen
Abdul,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. One of your questions that i found interesting was "
Is it more socially acceptable to have a funeral burial or be cremated, and is that an alternative to the dominant social practices?" I was thinking the same way also how do people in other countries deal with the care of the dead. One of the lines that stood out to me was when you said "My Uncle from my mom's side had just had us go to his house about a month or two before his death so we could help him "clean up" because lots of times when we are young we aren't always told the exact true about death because of our age and how we do not percieve it as children. Just like you i was taught to respect the dead. It's funny how you mention that because if we didn't it's kind of like we have consequences of doing so. I thought that all you questions were well thought out and i hope to find the answers to them as well. Good Job!
Leah
I found your style of writing very engaging and I enjoyed reading this post. The connection I have (little shop of horrors) makes the reading more entertaining to me, which helped me, pay closer attention to the work. I found it interesting how you were able to share an experience from so long ago and identify your ignorance. I connect to your work again, in the surprise of the cost of the whole funeral process. Reading the book Grave Matters by mark Harris, there are several things that need to be paid for. It is sad that people have to worry about money while they mourn for their loved ones. Overall I felt that your blog was interesting and engaging however one simple way to strengthen your writing is proofreading. There were some careless grammar and wording errors that could have easily be avoided by simply proofreading.
ReplyDelete