The Cemetery as s Guide to Social Order - Essay Example

People express diverse emotions when they hear the word ‘cemetery’. Since it is a burial place for the dead, it is normally associated with horror, darkness, obscure, unknown. Thinking about its origin, one can surmise that only when men began to settle down and stay in one place did they probably dig holes and bury the dead. This could, in fact, be attributed to several factors.

For one, the dead must be buried in holes because they could not be kept lying around to rot away and smell and attract wild animals. In short, for safety and sanitary reasons. Secondly, religion played an important part believing that some respect has to be shown to those who died. It is in this regard that this essay is written to infer the social structure, organization, and values of communities surrounding cemeteries. Public and Private Cemeteries I had the opportunity to visit two (2) different types of cemeteries, a public or local cemetery, and a private cemetery.

Public cemeteries are located within the community, close to residences. According to the local government for the purpose of burying the dead for local residents who could not afford the luxury of buying private memorial lots. In a public cemetery, the dead are buried very close to each other. In some designated places, the dead are buried in cubicles placed one on top of the other instead of digging holes in the ground. It is now rather disorganized due to the continuous increase in the number of local residents who opt to bury their dead here.

It is not being maintained regularly. The place is almost always deserted and dirty with an abundance of dried leaves and twigs rotting everywhere. When one passes by a public cemetery, immediately, people would derive the kind of social order the community belongs to – low to middle-income class. Residents who live close to the cemetery do not shudder from the thought that their houses were built next to it. They perceive the cemetery as a sacred place where their dearly beloved dead relatives were buried.