Nancy Chen’s essay, “Dead Bodies, Violence, and Living On Through Plastination” was taken from a collection that Chen coedited with Helene Moglen titled Bodies in the Making: Transgressions and Transformations (2006). In Chen’s essay she investigates the exhibits that display plastinated bodies all over the world known as BodyWorlds, Inc. and The Universe Within. Chen’s essay uncovers the truth about the plastinated bodies and also displays the attitudes of the people who visit the popular exhibits. Chen makes a compelling claim that the plastinated bodies that are displayed in the exhibits originate from a questionable source. Chen makes several claims throughout her essay. One of the major claims Chen makes is that the cadaveric bodies originated from a questionable source. She supports her claim with the discovery of the bodies being produced in a low-cost labor factory in China that has little to …show more content…
Chen supports this claim in a similar way she supports the previous claim. Chen travels the world and compares the different types of exhibits that display the plastinated bodies. For example, she compares the first show she attended in Berlin to the exhibits she attends in San Francisco and Beijing. Chen notices that the one in Berlin was very fascinating, but the one in San Francisco was different because most of the bodies were Chinese and there were protests by Asian-American groups. Along with the comparison of the different exhibits, Chen realizes that although there are bodies with bullet holes in their brains, people still come to see the exhibits and are fascinated at the display of plastinated bodies. Thus, Chen claims that the plastinated bodies desensitize the viewers of the exhibits to the true violence that has occurred in acquiring the