According to The Oxford English Dictionary, embalming is the process of preserving and sanitizing a dead body for the main use of public viewings such as funerals. However, is it necessary to have this procedure done to a human body after death? Embalming has been a long tradition to the Americans and has been carried around for many years. In modern times, it is important for individuals to decide whether or not they want their own body or a family member to go through this procedure. In Jessica Mitford’s “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain,” she effectively displays how a dead body should be treated with more respect and the practice of embalming should be discontinued. Although some readers point out that her argument is invalid for excluding