"Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain" Response #4 Critical Writing

In Mitford's essay on the process of enbalming, she makes the reasonable assumption that most Americans do not  know what it takes to make a body ready for a funeral. She firmly believes that the process of enbalming is revolting and disrespectful of the dead and if Americans knew the process they would not agree with it. She portrays the enbalmers as shadowy, deceptive figures not to be trusted.
     Mitford assumes that most Americans are ignorant of enbalming. In paragraph four Mitford critiques the ignorance of Americans saying "Americans...each year pay hundreds of millions of dollars [for enbalming]...Not one in ten thousand has any idea of what actually takes place." This argument is a fair one; funerals are expensive and when one pays for something expensive, one usually tends to research it.
      Mitford portrays the enbalmers in a negative light. In the final paragraph, she sums up the job: "He has relieved the family of every detail, he has revamped the corpse to look like a living doll...he has put on a well-oiled performance in which the concept of death has played no part whatsoever." Her grotesque details of the process itself and her repetivie mention of the enbalmer's having "intestinal fortitude" make the reader sick to their stomach.