Business of Death: A Reflection

Running head: BUSINESS OF DEATH1
Business of Death: A Reflection
Student Name
College/University Affiliation
BUSINESS OF DEATH

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Business of Death: A Reflection
Typically, death evokes a sense of fear, loss and wonder. For any human, anywhere, death is life’s biggest “known” yet most least understood fact. Unsurprisingly, most, if not all, people avoid discussing death, at least openly. In “Business of death” (Glass, 1997), however, death is discussed not as a “sad” matter yet as a multifaceted dilemma – of, perhaps, funny twists. The episode, made up of five acts and a prelude, introduces death in a new way to make us reflect more deeply on death – and life. More specifically, death, as a fact of life, is discussed in “Business of death” from different perspectives of people whose job is to “handle” death matters after a body’s soul is out: undertakers, homicide detectives, slaughterhouse workers, enunculators, autopsy pathologists, exterminators, and others. Then again, death is not only about people handling a body after death. Instead, death is, ultimately, about stories: good and bad; sad and happy; and elusive and enduring. The stories discussed in “Business of death” are, accordingly, more of a reflection on what experiences people handing death are about. To reflect on such stories is, for current purposes, to add yet a second layer of reflection on death – and experiences of death.
Understandably, “Business of death” starts by a somber, Jewish morning, Kaddish, as a prelude. Combining mundane scenes from life and melancholic melodies weaved into a poem, “Kaddish” meets a universal expectation about death as something to be feared, avoided and, always, a source of pain for loving ones. This “classic” opening gives way to a rich tapestry of meaning-making ...