Behind The Formaldehyde Curtain Analysis

Authors often use witticism to draw in the reader, keep their attention, entertain them, and/or to make a point. Jessica Mitford is no stranger to this technique and demonstrates a great capacity for it in her essay Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain, published in The American Way of Death in 1963. In this essay she uses irony, sarcasm, and humor to scrutinize the procedure of preparing corpses for display and burial. The use of these techniques played a huge part in the success of the piece by helping the reader understand Mitford’s argument that the process of embalmment is ridiculous and grotesque.
Taking on the difficult task of informing the public about such a controversial subject was a bold move, putting the success of the paper in danger