Comparison and Contrast on American Funeral and Wedding - Essay Example

Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Comparison and Contrast on American Funeral and Wedding Death awaits us all. Likewise, it’s the part of societal norms to wed before marriage. Death is marked through a funeral. In spite of both situations being celebrations of life, there are imminent contrasts in death and wedding celebrations. The focus in this study is the contrasts that are brought out in the American culture. Funerals are normally considered to be days of sorrows while weddings are celebratory. A wedding is characterized by joy, feasting and sharing of familial love. Unlike weddings which have pompous color and glamour, funerals are characterized by gloom and sadness. There are no joyous celebrations on the day of funeral and the much diversity of color that characterizes a wedding day is usually replaced by black as the most dominantly conspicuous color. The American way of celebrating both life and death does not differ much with the way it is done by other societies. To offer an insight into the American culture in terms of funeral and wedding celebrations, two authors in their literary works cover this in an elaborate way. Rebecca Mead in her book, One perfect day, gives an introspective insight into the American society’s wedding. On the other hand, Jessica Mitford also gives an in-depth analysis of the American society’s funeral in her book The American way of Death. In this study, American weddings are discussed first. Nature dictates that weddings are done before funerals. In the book about American weddings, Rebecca gives an interesting and formal perspective to weddings as a one day celebration which has implications on the lives of those involved. America consists of all the three economic classes; the poor, the middle class, and the rich. It should be noted that all the classes have their way of doing things. The way in which one decides to celebrate his or her wedding is largely decided upon by the economic class of the individual. Celebrities give more attention to style and publicity in their weddings. Their weddings are characterized by media and paparazzi coverage. They invite personalities who are of significance taking into account the fact that the prominence of the people in the guest list plays a role in determining the attention the wedding gets. This is a fact that in their case is of more importance than the essence of the wedding itself. Most celebrities fall into the rich and popular category; the way they do their celebrations is replicated all over the upper class of the American society. Business people, in their weddings, invite the rich and powerful in the business world and in so doing, they build and strengthen their business contacts. To most of them, such social gatherings are an extension of business and christened, ‘‘business in the lawn.’’ The middle class also have their own way of celebrating weddings. The color is not as exaggerated as with the upper class of the society. However, such celebrations still retain the glamour that would so easily identify it with the class. The lower class too celebrates weddings just as in the other classes discussed above. The amount of color and coverage by the media is what would help cast the difference in these occasions. Weddings are functions that people hold once in their lifetimes. Therefore, irrespective of the financial position of the person, most Americans tend to engage in financial excesses in celebrating weddings. For instance, one could be financially constrained but would decide to spend an entire life savings on it. This way, the pomp and color talked of earlier would still be achieved and the class difference would be concealed. This is the reason as to why the upper class pay much attention to those in attendance as this would communicate the prominence better than the pomp showcased during the occasion (Mead 63-66). Weddings are always about two people in love getting together in holy matrimony. This is done before a priest or a religious leader. Other couples usually opt for the formal and legal way of doing this which is characterized by the two taking their marriage vows before the attorney general in the presence of eye witnesses. The celebration, in such occasions, comes much later after the two have been joined together and is normally referred to as a reception (Mead 22). It is characterized by celebratory incidences such as feasting and giving of gifts. What is evident on such days is that love is shared on such occasions. Funerals, on the other hand, are all about celebration of lives lived. This celebration is held at the demise of a loved one. The reflection of the deceased’s life is recounted and the remembrance of the fact that the individual is no more is always a pain to close friends and family members. The celebrations are always short and culminate into the body of the individual either being buried or cremated depending on the preference of either the dead or the family. Some religions also tend to dictate the manner in which the body is disposed off (Mitford 56). However, the will of the late is normally respected and should it be that they had mentioned the manner in which they wanted themselves disposed off, the family would always be obliged to do just so. Just like weddings, the size of the burial ceremonies also varies depending on the economic abilities and the influence that the deceased together with the family had. The rich and prominent have detailed ceremonies that take hours with meticulous plans and many visitors. One dominant color that is most commonly associated with American funerals is black. The color is used to signify the darkness that befalls one in death. The day of burial is a sorrowful one owing to the fact that a loved individual is lost forever. The color has its origin in the English culture but got assimilated into the Americans culture. One thing that both authors agree on is the fact that Americans seek the services of event planners to help organize both occasions. In modern times, the service industry has diversified and extended provision of services to weddings and funerals. Americans tend to be busy and finding the time to sit and plan for such events as weddings would be difficult in view of the pressures of daily hustles. Weddings are, therefore, conducted through contracted the services of bureaus where payments are made and with little consultation, one gets the whole function set up. In tandem with wedding planning so were funeral organizers. The family of the bereaved contracts a firm that offers these services and get the whole ceremony arranged with very little physical input. The funeral planners have always helped in determining the appropriateness of the venues and the manner in which guests are handled. With their services, all the guests attending feel recognized and their presence appreciated. The type of services one gets differs with the tariffs one opts for. The tariffs are categorized in terms of financial abilities of the clients. Works Cited Mead, R. One perfect day. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2004. Print. Mitford, J. The American way of Death. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2002. Print. Read More