Book cover of Death’s Summer Coat by Brandy Schillace

Brandy Schillace

Death’s Summer Coat Summary

Reading time icon12 min readRating icon3.6 (149 ratings)

Death is both an end and an everyday process—a contradiction our minds struggle to comprehend. Yet, facing it can reveal what it really means to live fully.

1. The Mind Struggles with Death Because It Resists Being Categorized

Humans instinctively sort the world into neat categories, but death defies this process. It is both a moment of finality and a gradual process—an unsettling paradox. Our brains, built to organize and simplify, are unnerved by this ambiguity.

Even people born blind develop neural pathways for creating categories, showing that this mental process is wired into us from birth. But categorizing something like death becomes tricky. Is it an event or a process? This complexity creates a natural discomfort, making many of us avoid the subject altogether.

Everyday reminders make death impossible to ignore, even subconsciously. Dust—mostly composed of dead skin—subtly signals our mortality. These constant cues inform us that death is as much a part of life as birth, though we prefer not to dwell on it.

Examples

  • Our brains categorize a hammer or a dog automatically, but death resists such definition.
  • Dust, composed of shed dead skin, is a silent messenger of life’s ephemeral nature.
  • Scientific studies even show blind individuals share these categorization mechanisms.

2. The Idea of a "Good Death" Requires Time and Preparation

The notion of a "good death" emerged when societies transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agricultural communities. During this time, death became less sudden, allowing people to prepare and take care of their affairs. This preparation became central to dying well.

A "good death" historically involved wrapping up moral and practical responsibilities, such as passing on inheritances or settling disputes, while also focusing on spiritual readiness. Medieval individuals often spent their final years reflecting and praying to prepare for their transition.

Today, a good death is still held up as a goal, often characterized by painlessness and closeness with loved ones. However, few achieve this ideal. While 70% of Americans wish for peaceful deaths at home, only 25% manage to do so due to financial and logistical barriers.

Examples

  • Medieval dying rituals often included reflection and spiritual preparation.
  • John Hawkins, a psychotherapist, chronicled his path to dying peacefully by documenting his last days with friends and family.
  • Modern-day figures show discrepancies between the desire for a prepared death and the financial reality of achieving one.

3. In the 19th Century, Corpses Became Commercial Commodities

During the 19th century, science's demand for cadavers clashed with societal respect for the dead. Educational institutions, needing bodies for medical training, turned unclaimed corpses into teaching tools, a practice that upset communities rich and poor alike.

The Anatomy Act of 1832 in the UK allowed medical schools to claim bodies of the poor who had no one to bury them. But this led to body-snatching—an illegal and highly profitable practice of unearthing corpses from graves for sale. Those buried were not guaranteed peace.

These actions highlighted the era’s growing conflict between scientific progress and ethical considerations. The economic and racial bias of body snatching also left lasting scars, with marginalized communities being disproportionately affected.

Examples

  • The Anatomy Act legalized the use of unclaimed bodies for anatomy lessons.
  • Victorian grave robbers, known as "resurrectionists," often stripped corpses to conceal identities.
  • Black bodies in the United States were disproportionately targeted for medical use due to systemic racism.

4. Modern Medicine Redefines the Line Between Life and Death

Advances in medical science have blurred the once-clear boundary between life and death. The discovery of CPR, artificial respirators, and similar innovations forced the medical community to reconsider traditional definitions.

Previously, death was marked by heart failure. But tools like ventilators can maintain bodily functions while brain activity ceases. Neurologists now argue that death occurs when the brain no longer functions, although recoveries from brain failure continue to challenge this idea.

These technological advances create ethical dilemmas for families and doctors. Should they pull the plug? Or might the patient eventually recover? The case of Jahi McMath, a young girl kept in an artificial coma despite being declared brain-dead, underscores this emotional and ethical uncertainty.

Examples

  • CPR shifted the definition of death from heart failure to brain activity.
  • Modern ventilators keep patients alive for years, raising ethical questions.
  • Jahi McMath's case exemplifies the divisive outcomes of redefining death.

5. Consuming the Dead Once Helped People Cope with Loss

Western death rituals today are relatively detached in contrast to earlier grieving practices. Some tribal cultures, like the Wari’ of the Brazilian rainforest, consumed their dead as an act of closeness and respect.

Necrophagy, or eating the deceased, was not macabre to these communities; it was loving. For the Wari’, relatives came together to cook and eat parts of the body, ensuring the spirit of the deceased stayed connected with the family while mourning together.

This culturally rich practice ended only in the 1960s, but it presents a lesson for modern societies. While eating the dead is no longer practiced, fostering closer rituals around death and mourning might alleviate the isolation surrounding grief today.

Examples

  • The Wari’ prepared meals from their deceased as an act of collective mourning.
  • Ashes of the dead were spread under family homes for closeness.
  • Distant relatives, rather than immediate family, consumed the body to avoid spiritual offense.

6. Victorian Photography Captured Death in Life-like Poses

In Victorian England, memento mori photography emerged as a way to memorialize the deceased. Families paid to have lifelike portraits taken of their loved ones after death, often posing them with living relatives.

These images played a dual role: honoring the grieving process and symbolizing denial of death itself. Bodies were posed in natural settings, creating eerie illusions of life. For many families, these photos were their only records of loved ones.

These unique portraits symbolize humanity's tendency to simultaneously fear and deny death. They also remind modern onlookers of the lengths people will go to preserve memories of those they’ve lost.

Examples

  • Victorian families saved for memento mori photography, despite its expense.
  • A child with a smallpox quarantine sign is a striking example of disguised grief.
  • Wooden poles propped up cadavers in lifelike positions.

7. The Digital Era Redefines How We Memorialize the Dead

Technology has introduced new ways to remember loved ones. Social media platforms like Facebook now host millions of profiles for deceased users, with some families using these as modern memorial spaces.

Innovative tools like "If I Die," an app that pre-writes messages for loved ones, build further bridges between life and death. These tools, though well-intentioned, raise questions about how people process grief in the digital world.

The rise of interactive memorials and personalized funerals reflects humanity’s shifting relationship with death. While they offer creative ways to commemorate the deceased, they also complicate the grieving process by keeping memories "alive" indefinitely.

Examples

  • Facebook maintains 30 million deceased-user profiles.
  • "If I Die" users prepare messages that go live postmortem.
  • Life-themed funerals—like the recreation of a boxing match—are becoming popular.

Takeaways

  1. Discuss and document your end-of-life wishes with your loved ones before it’s too late. This conversation can guide them during tough times.
  2. Explore rituals that help you connect personally with death and grief, whether through written reflections, storytelling, or personalized memorials.
  3. Embrace modern tools thoughtfully, like digital memorials, while considering how they affect long-term grief processing.

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