The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 11, Jessica, the Hound and the Casket Trade Summary

Chapter 11, Jessica, the Hound and the Casket Trade Summary and Analysis

There are good and bad days in the funeral direction business. Thomas's occupation requires level-headedness to keep him from constantly putting his foot in his mouth. After all, he sells caskets, embalms bodies and directs funerals. Pollsters find that many people don't much care for such people, although they often like the director they dealt with personally. So Thomas is careful, not telling people what they should and shouldn't do - bad for business and bad form.

It isn't entirely clear what function caskets perform. Dead people don't move and don't care. It isn't clear why it matters what they are placed in. But caskets now have pall bearers and so the casket is displayed in public. Caskets are four-sided, whereas coffins are eight-sided and mostly wooden. Caskets are nicer and suggest something about the box. But both caskets and coffins are important because of the relationships the bodies...
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