Business of Selling Death

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the costs of a funeral and who benefits most from one. The writer points out that the funeral industry is growing steadily and that there are limitless possibilities in organizing a funeral. The writer weighs the expense of a funeral against the psychological cost of not having one and concludes that ultimately it is the choice of the bereaved to do what feels right for him or her.

From the Paper:

"Does death have a price? How much is too much? Where do we draw the line between religiously tasteful, and extravagant displays of pagan gaudiness? Not only in the presentation if one can call it such, but the burden placed on the bereaved with the cost of a funeral. Just as the purchase of a high end Mercedes can be a mark of your social status, so can a person's burial site, and undertaker Mr. Mould asks "why do we spend more on a death than a birth"(qtd. in Anderson and Forrester 93)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hall, Ray C. "The Last Person Who Will Ever Touch You." Point Counterpoint: Eight Cases For Composition. Eds. Thayle K. Anderson, and Kent Forrester. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1993,1987.141.
• Lamers, Jr., William M. "Funerals Are Good For People." Point Counterpoint: Eight Cases For Composition. Eds. Thayle K. Anderson, and Kent Forrester. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1993,1987.120-121.
• Morgan, Al. "The Bier Barons." Point Counterpoint: Eight Cases For Composition. Eds. Thayle K. Anderson, and Kent Forrester. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1993,1987.95-96.
• Thayle K. Anderson, and Kent Forrester Eds. Point Counterpoint: Eight Cases For Composition. Forrester. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1993,1987.93.

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