"Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain"

           Written by Jessica Mitford, I would say this is a very informative essay. In this reading she goes through the step-by-step process of preparing the body of Mr.Jones, after he has passed. She tells of how when embalming first came about that a family member was required to be in attendance for this procedure, and now "all others are excluded by law from the preparation room"(73).
          The author then goes on to tell of the preparation room what it holds such as scaples, forceps, clamps, needles, chemicals, cosmetics, and so on. But as I am reading it has yet to gross me out. The blood is drawn out from the body before the embalming begins, I wonder what do they do with the blood. Do they donate it? Or do they simply descard it? As I continue reading I learn something new, even though this whole essay is unfamiliar, I did not know that they sewed the mouth together and tweaked to to form a slight smile.
           "The object of all this attention to the corpse, is to make it presentable for viewing in an attitude of healthy response"(76). We learned that alot of work in the body and cosmetically goes on when embalming is in full process. I am still confused on wether the person who embalms the body also handles the cosmetic side. I ask this because in the movie "My Girl" her dad is a mortician and embalms the bodies but hired a women to do the cosmetics and hair after his part was finished. This reading may have been a little to informative but not enough to make me squimish.