Stiff

One of the things that I noted while reading this section was that the author put a large emphasis on how the doctors "objectify" the corpses that they work on.  I first did not really think about it when I first came across it in the text and continued reading.  However, after I noticed it several times, I started to think about it more.  I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the main ways that people (specifically doctors) are able to perform surgeries on people.  It must be a coping mechanism to prevent the thoughts that they could be causing serious pain for their patient.  It then reminded me of how as a child, my mom had worked at a funeral home as a receptionist, and would tell me stories of when she worked there.  She always referred to bodies that were brought in as "guests," and during the embalming process thought of them as wax.  I believe that she did this out of respect and to help cope with having to deal with death every day.  Thinking back to the overall theme of this course (the medical madmen), I thought about how this section connected back.  I realized that this coping mechanism might be how the madmen (Nazi doctors, etc.) are able to perform such horrific acts.  Maybe these doctors objectified their patients so much, that they lost sight of the fact that their patients are people too.
Gabe McGiveron