The American Way of Death
Jessica Mitford's Classic Account of American Funeral Practices
A look at Jessica Mitford's shocking critique of the American funeral industry
First published in 1963, then revised in 1996 shortly before the author’s death, Jessica Mitford’s The American Way of Death explores the excesses and absurdities of the American “death care” industry.
Inspired by her husband’s efforts to establish a non-profit funeral society, providing simple and cheap funerals for its members, Mitford’s sharply satirical work dispenses with objectivity and fixes its sights firmly on those who try to turn death into big business.
The American Funeral Deconstructed
In The American Way of Death the typical American funeral is deconstructed and all of its components laid in front of the reader, from the purchase of the casket, with its obligatory hard sell, to the peculiarly American phenomenon of embalming.
Mitford quotes extensively from trade magazines and catalogues, effectively letting the funeral directors offer their own sales pitch. Along the way we are treated to such bizarre products and practices as the “Fit-a-Fut Oxford”, specially designed footwear for the discerning corpse, and the concept of “memory pictures”, otherwise known as viewing the deceased’s embalmed body.
One of the book’s highlights comes with a graphic description of the embalming process. The account of what happens to the fictional “Mr Jones’s” body is not for the faint hearted. It reads like a training manual for any aspiring mortician but is laced with a comic irony that makes the gruesome manipulation the body is subjected to all the more shocking.
Capitalism and the American Funeral
As an infamous muck-raking journalist, Mitford was unafraid to suggest that some common funeral practices may just be cons. But The American Way of Death is more than just a witty exposé.
As a satirist she is quick to mock the more ridiculous side of the undertaker’s trade, but it is clear that this was a topic she cared passionately about. The result is a powerful and eloquent book, which shines light on an industry that gets us at our most vulnerable but which most people know little about.
A work as specific as The American Way of Death runs the risk of very quickly becoming dated. Yet, even a cursory glimpse at the website of the National Association of Funeral Directors shows that little has changed in the funeral industry and Mitford is keen to show how timeless these concerns are.
At the heart of her book is the issue of whether capitalism and compassion can ever be allied, a question that in the 21st century is as relevant as ever before.
Reference:
The American Way of Death; Jessica Mitford: Vintage (2000)
