Corpse is the name given to a body that has been alive before but is now dead. It is the physical remains that a living being leaves after dying.
For example: “The police found a body under the bridge: investigators believe it is a homicide “, “The body of the former president will be embalmed and exhibited in a museum”, “I was very impressed to see the corpse of that horse ”.
For various reasons, humans have always tried to get rid of corpses. The cremation and burial of bodies are the most common methods. Importantly, bacteria and other organisms are responsible for the decomposition of corpses.
To prevent further decomposition, it is possible to place the corpse in a low-temperature environment. This technique is used in morgues to preserve corpses, which often must be subjected to analysis and studies to determine the cause of death of the person.
In some cases, an attempt is made to preserve the integrity of the corpse, avoiding putrefaction. The embalming, in this context, is to inject balms, resins and other chemicals to the body for storage. Many times the corpses of deceased leaders are embalmed for ritual purposes.
Human beings have lost contact with nature to such an extent that today it is normal for us to feel a deep displeasure in the presence of a corpse, while the rest of the animals accept death as one of the necessary and inevitable phenomena of our passage through this planet.
On the other hand, people who eat meat deny the origin of their food to the point of detesting any reference to the suffering of the animal; a very common example is parents’ unpleasant reaction when their young children ask questions about cows, pigs and chickens, among other species, during dinner.
According to DigoPaul, the image of a corpse usually causes us to retch, the same day that we prepare a piece of roast meat to eat; we see a dead cow and we run away with an upset stomach, but that same night we feed on one of his sisters, or daughters, or his own mother, and we do not feel disgusted or sorry.
We do not treat the corpses of “ours” naturally either, but we hire a stranger to do their makeup, dress them up for a party and place them in an expensive drawer, next to which we will cry for a few hours until another group of strangers is responsible for burying it in an absolutely artificial and environmentally damaging way.
Of course there are exceptions, as absurd as makeup and burials in polluting drawers: the exhibition of corpses in glass cabinets for centuries in cathedrals and museums. While our stomach churns when we see certain inert bodies, we pay trips and admission fees to admire others that have been fighting natural decay processes for years and years.
Depending on your point of view, displaying a corpse can be disrespectful, humiliating. For those who consider the body of a deceased something sacred, this is nothing more than a vandal and reprehensible act. For the devotees of a saint or the followers of an ancient ruler who can be seen in his eternal rest, however, these conservation techniques are an invaluable gift.
It should be noted that, in forensic medicine, it is often said that corpses “speak”. This is because, through the procedure known as an autopsy, it is possible to obtain a lot of data about the life and death of the subject. An autopsy can be used to uncover a crime, for example.
