Summary Of Formaldehyde Behind The Bradehyde Curtain

Have you ever been to a funeral and wondered how a dead body can look so clean and lively? How can it look as if it hasn’t been dead for a little over a minute? That’s due to the process known as embalming. Embalming is the preservation of human remains, using chemicals, in order to prevent decomposition. It is used to make sure that the corpse is presentable on the day of the funeral. The non-fictional piece, Formaldehyde Behind the Curtain, written by Jessica Mitford, descriptively shows the procedure and just how much people are clueless to what embalming actually is. By thoroughly describing the procedure, she gives readers an inside look of what’s happening during the process. Hyperbole is used many times throughout the story by exaggerating

This has been happening for many years; yet not much choose to question it. Something so complex obviously doesn’t come cheap. Americans blindly pay millions of dollars annually to continue this common procedure without knowing the purpose for which their money serves. Shockingly most procedures are done, legally, without any consent to the family of the dead. Even if family members wished to be a part of the embalming they would be denied access, due to the embalmers commands. What’s so bad that the family of the dead can’t even witness? What is actually happening during these long and crucial procedures? That’s the question that most people fail to ask and that’s what so many Americans fail to educate themselves

This isn’t just your typical surgery that usually takes a few hours to complete. It takes a few days before the dead is ready to be placed in the casket. The embalmer has many equipment to take on the challenge, “consisting of scalpels, scissors, augers, forceps, clamps, needles, pumps, tubes, bowls, and basins…” and “fluids, spray, pastes, oils, powders, creams.” Throughout the procedures Mitford named the dead body Mr. Jones. First Mr. Jones is laid on the undertaker’s morgue. They start off by draining his blood and replacing it with fluid depending on the operator’s preference. Then they jab into his abdomen with a “long, hollow needle attached to a tube.” He is also creamed to protect his face from burns, and then covered in a sheet to be unbothered. He’s far from done though. Once all the tissues have become firm and dry is when the real work starts. After Mr. Jones has been left alone for eight to ten hours, the embalmer “brings into play the skill and equipment of sculptor and cosmetician.” One side effect of the fluids is that it causes the corpse to turn green. An embalmer would then pull out cosmetics to bring the corpse back to its original color. Once the internal problems are handled, “Mr. Jones is now shaved, washed and dressed.” He gets his hair washed and combed; his nail manicured and is now ready for the casket. He’s not just thrown in