MovieChat Forums > Places in the Heart (1984) Discussion > Was that how they told wives their husba...

Was that how they told wives their husbands had died??


I have just started the movie, but was shocked at how Edna was told about her husband's death. They just bring his body in the house and set it on the table. It was like, here's your husband, we'll just set his dead, bloody body on your table for you to deal with, we're sorry about his death.

Also, that black guy that killed him. Was he killed before they dragged him behind the truck, or did he die a painful death by being dragged behind a truck. If so, that had to of been a slow and painful death.

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We have come a long way since 1935. Today, bodies are taken to the coroner/morgue and then to the funeral home. There would have been no way I could have cleaned my dead husband, dressed him and continued to eat on that dining room table, ever again.

As far as the young black man, he looked like he had been lynched or perhaps lynched by dragging. It wouldn't surprise me if he was still alive, since that was so common during that time. Well actually, James Byrd was lynched by dragging in 1998, also in Texas, so I guess we're still not too far removed from 1935.

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I am now reading about James Byrd on wikipedia and it says that he was conscious during most of the ordeal, until his body hit a culvert, which severed his arm and head. That's seriously sick. I could not imagine the terror and horrible pain that man went through as he was dragged behind that truck.

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Well actually, James Byrd was lynched by dragging in 1998, also in Texas, so I guess we're still not too far removed from 1935.

The difference is the three pieces of subhuman scum that killed Byrn were all charged, found guilty, and given severe sentences. In 1935, these cowards could go unchecked.

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A PG movie in 1984 actually allowed this! But it was more than likely the grim reality of a rural Texan in 1935! According to this movie, the funerals were held the next day, probably because the bodies would start to stink otherwise!

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Embalming existed then, but many rural funerals were held at home. There is a Civil War house nearby that holds tours every Halloween. They have an old hearse, embalming implements, and the tour guide tells a lot about how funerals were done back in the day. Apparently the tradition of flowers at funerals began to cover up the smell.

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That is how they did it back in the 30s! The family prepared the body and had the funeral services at home.

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Friends of mine bought a very large home that was built in the 1900s. There was an actual 'viewing room' in the house. The room had an entry and an exit so that visitors could enter through the door off the parlor room, pay their respects and view the deceased, then continue through the exit door which led into the dining room. An uninterrupted flow of mourners if you will. It was definitely a unique feature!

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Even more disturbing than the actual lynching was that nobody said anything. At Edna's home, they all just watched when the vigilantes drove by. The Amy Madigan character seemed more concerned about Edna being disturbed than about the dead black boy that had been tortured and dragged through town, as if to say, "I don't care if you do this, just don't do it here."

Ugh, it made me want to vomit. How people could witness that kind of cruelty and not by physically repulsed is beyond me. The scene is more disturbing than anything in Mississippi Burning because there's no catharsis, no Gene Hackman through which the audience can express their disgust.

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