Sleep With The Dead In Vietnam

America is a melting pot of different cultures. Each culture shares within its group their own beliefs, values, traditions and rituals. All cultures have their own way of handling death and expressing grief often through customs and rituals which are reflected in our understanding of death. Grieflink stated, when someone close to us dies, we mourn this loss inwardly (we might refer to this as the inner experience of grief) but we also mourn in an outward public way (the mourning customs or rituals of our particular society). According to the Cancer.net (2015), in the wake of chaos and confusion created by death customs and rituals help bring a sense of routine and normalcy as well as provide ways for the community to support the bereaved

As we all know death of humans has been one of the utmost mysteries we would all like to solve. Although the ancient Mesopotamia, Egyptian, and Hindu all believed in an afterlife, their understanding and celebration if any, seems to be a little different. Mesopotamians were afraid of death, although they believed in afterlife they also had strong belief about the spirits still being alive. The Egyptians had an understanding and outlook on death, in which they believed in an afterlife, but they also believed in preserving the body. However, the Hindu also had the same perspective on afterlife, they were also very religious, but the way they went about it was much different than those of Mesopotamia and Egyptians.

Today the Chinese population still follows these traditions with a few small exceptions of modern times. All elders are given respect in the Chinese society, those living or deceased. There is a question that still remains in this culture on how to prepare a funeral of unmarried adults and children. No respect is given to a person who died as a bachelor or bachelorette, or if they did not have children. They are not considered an elder and do not have children that prepare the funeral for them. Children are also shown no respect because they do not have anyone to prepare their death ritual. They are left at their funeral home and the family members preform these burials in silence. The children in Chinese families prepare funerals for elders. It is considered proper for the children of the deceased to go into debt in order to pay respect for the older people at the funeral. The body of the dead must be washed with care, dusted with talcum powder, and dressed in the nicest clothes from the personal wardrobe before being placed in the casket for burial. All of the other clothing that belongs to the deceased elder must be burned. The deceased is never dressed in red because it is believed that it will turn the corpse into a ghost. The body is placed on a yellow cloth with the face covered, and then the body is covered with a blue cloth. All statues of deities are covered with red paper and all mirrors are removed from site in the home when preparing the home for the death ritual. The mirror is removed so that no one sees the coffin in the mirror. If someone sees the coffin in the mirror, it is believed that you will have a death within your own family soon. A white cloth is hung in the doorway and a gong is placed outside the door of the home of the deceased. If the person who is deceased is a male, it is placed on the left side; if female, it is placed

One of the most telling parts of a society is how they handle the traditions that surround one of the hardest things that humans experience: death. Northern Ireland is a prime example of how a group of people can build up a set of traditions that help the morning process and how those traditions can be a healing experience that helps a family and community celebrate the life of the deceased. Washing and preparing the body is an important part of the process that has been mentioned in several works of poetry. The traditional Irish Wake is also extremely important in celebrating the life of the dead and all they accomplished, complete with drinking and laughter and being with family and

Culture ties into every aspect of the human life, including death. There may be right and wrong ways to handle the death of someone, as well as time periods involved. There may also be set people that need to know over others in certain cultures or religions. It is important to not disrespect anyone’s family or even themselves when it comes to that time of life. For example, Buddhists believe that after taking one’s last breath, the body should

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

When an individual dies, their death can greatly impact the loved ones they leave behind. Each mourner may feel and perceive the death differently from one another, but one common factor that can influence the mourner’s beliefs, values, and views about a person’s death is their culture. Their culture can regulate the way the mourner copes with the death of a loved one, what they do with the physical deceased body, and how they may honor the dead afterwards (Cartaret, 2011). For me, my culture is relatively related to the Catholic, Hispanic American culture, which is a broad and subjective category, but it is what I believe that guides my views towards life and death. I have additionally chosen to learn about the cultural practices of Hinduism of Indians on death

The remembrances of the Vietnam War are often thought upon with mixed emoptions. While there are those who praise the “bravest of men in our country” (Keith 38), some are stirred by the memorial, which happens to also be the most frequently toured site in the capital of the united states. It is covered with the names of over 50,000 men and women who served and died in the war of vietnam, it is regarded as a “shrine to the dead” (Taylor 24)  reminder of the loss of too many young Americans, and of what the war did to the United States and its messianic belief in its own overweening virtue.

Different religious and cultures honor death in different ways. My culture deals with death by holding a funeral, in which we celebrate and honor the life and accomplishments of the person who has left us. We often try to make the funeral as positive as possible, by saying things like “Carol would have wanted us to be happy. She wouldn’t have wanted to have all the people she loved and cared for, crying because of

Now if the dead are buried far away from their homes, graves are decorated with the idea that the dead return their first and then to their how with livens. Mexicans visit graveyards, decorate the graves in their best forms and spend time there, in the presence of their departed friends, family members and lovesome. In some villages, they lay flower petals as paths, candles and offerings along the path leading from the cemetery to their homes. The spirits will be able to find their way. In some communities, it is expected to spend the whole night in the cemetery, and people throw a party of it, having a picnic supper, playing music, talking and drinking through the night. Gatherings are often held during the yearly event, it can involve the

As a result of many deaths traditions tend to get lost in the bad times of these deaths. A lot of cultural knowledge is lost since most adults and elders are leaving the world. Some traditions like making a proper funeral is important since they strongly believed in that sort of stuff. In most of the American Indian cultures, healing was a part of their religious ceremonies. When they failed to cure the European diseases there was a lot of faith in the traditional Indian spiritual ways was lost. Lots of Native Americans started to lose faith in what they believed in their whole life. Some Indians began to rethink and they said it must be the power of their religion that saved most of them.

An analysis of the book “Day of the dead in the USA” by Regina M. Marchi revealed that to Latin Americans, death does not provoke fear but instead brings together family and friends to value life and each other while it lasts. The first chapter of the book gives a definition of what the Day of the Dead details, a historical background and different customs of celebrating this day in Central America and South America. The second chapter of the book moves onto specifically why Mexico is associated with the Day of the Dead and how they celerate this day. Then the third chapter of the book switches over to how the Day of the Dead is celebrated here in the United States. Finally, the fourth chapter goes into

The Vietnam War had been last for about twenty years. Sadly, the American soldiers did not defeat the communists. The U.S. troops had suffered in terrible conditions in Vietnam, such as swaps, jungles, and humid weathers. There were more than 58,000 Americans soldiers had been killed in the war. The USAF claimed that the United States spent mostly 100 billion on this war for the military aids. Therefore, the economy of the United States decreased. Majority of the veterans came back to the America didn’t get respect from the citizens because they were “anti-war”. The sacrifice of the soldiers was not important in those citizens’ minds.

His foot softly touched the podium and the crowd quickly changed into dead silent. Many people came to the funeral in memory of their lost ones that died in the big war. “Four score and seven years ago” was the sound that broke the sacred dead silence. I stood there in the ice weather, my tears running down quickly and freezing onto my cheeks. I lost my twelve brothers fighting against each other, brother vs. brother. The war was over, but the war inside wasn't. Everyone standing at the speech was hurt and both sides came to realize that war doesn't solve anything, but it just makes things worse.

Different cultures, countries, religions, and community with various behaviors and rituals that guides their belief and action when a loved one pass away. Religious and spiritual belief, type of life after death, superstitious beliefs after death and beliefs towards the meaning of life are all based on tradition and death ritual.