day of the dead

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Day of the Dead
Introduction
The day of death is a holiday that is celebrated in Mexico, and it is accredited by other cultures in the world. Therefore, this paper shall discuss how the specific events of the holiday can affect the social bonds within Hispanic family and causes of cultural fragmentation. It shall discuss the practical problems that can take place from engaging in the holiday and the ways that can be made to cope with death. The paper shall also discuss many issues pertaining the day of death as stipulated by Hispanic immigrants.
Question one
The specific events in the day of death can strengthen the variety of social bonds within the Hispanic family and community across generations in many ways. The decoration of the gravesites with flowers and offerings do welcome the spirits of the departed members of the community to the society (Gleason). Therefore, this helps in staying peacefully in the society and having a good relationship with the spirits. Hence, this avoids the emergence of evil spirits in the community that do contain a lot of effects that are not friendly to the human life. The dancing that is held by players with Catrina so as to get transformed into a skeleton acts as the major achievement of the day of death (Gleason). It acts as good restoration of the cultural values and practices of Hispanic family and the community from the current generation of future generations that shall come. The event of serving of the Bread of Dead to the grave of a returned ghost that is in a form of a spirit helps to create a good bond between the ghost spirits, the living dead, the living and the living dead.

On the same note, the events create a strong bond among the community members in different age groups in the Hispanic community. In the long run, respect is maintained at the highest level possible by the different members of the society.
Question Two
Cultural fragmentation of Hispanics who immigrated to the United States of America had many causes that brought about many changes in the United States of America. The immigration led to a dramatic diminishes in illegal entries; there was an improvement on the wages of low-income earners in the United States of America. There was also a debate on whether to use Spanish or English of the official language of America. On the same note, Bilingual education and the controversies of spawns disappeared due to the Hispanic immigrants. The immigrants led to the diversification of the United States. Therefore, this led to the creation of incentives for immigrants to learn the culture of United States of America (Gleason). The participation in the day of death affects these particular changes that were witnessed after the immigrants invaded America. The participation brought the USA citizens and the Hispanics to come together to celebrate the day of death. Consequently, the two groups were in a position to integrate their cultural values including learning one another’s language. The American residents developed an interest in participating in the holiday due to the influence that was brought about the Hispanics. The participation in the day of death also affected the change of the language that they were anticipating to apply as the national language. It was made possible due to the interaction between the two groups.
Question Three
It is more difficult for Hispanic immigrants to practice their cultural tradition in America than it was in their home country. The Americans have a different tradition with their values. Other than in their country where the practice never received obstruction, the practice received a little opposition from the members of America in observing the day. The other reason is that the time frame in for the observance of the day of the dead was different in America than that in Hispanic (Gleason). The regulation of the American government was not willing to put the day to be a public holiday in the USA. The action made the Hispanic immigrants have a difficult period in observing the day of dead.
Question Four
The day of Dead and former U.S religious traditions have many similarities and differences. Costumes are used in both celebrations. Halloween costumes do range from scary to fun. On the other hand, in the day of dead, children don masks to represent the deceased. Food and Candy are used as part of the celebration in both cases. In Halloween, children knock on doors to receive sweets, candy, and treats (Gleason). Even though the food is applied the Day of Dead, the food is placed in slabs at the grave sites of those being recalled throughout the holiday. Also, weeks before the Day of Dead, graves are cleaned and prepared for the holiday while in Halloween; the faint-hearted avoid graves during Halloween. Halloween and the Day of Dead use ghosts and spirits during their celebrations. Halloween uses a morbid and ghostly approach to the dead when it comes to celebrations with decorations centered on monsters, zombies, and skeletons. In the Day of Dead, skeletons are used though the usage of those skeletons is based on the honor of the departed.
Question Five
An engagement in the event of the Day of the Dead has some practical and psychological problems. Events place during the Day of Dead flashbacks the sad memories that the society has gone through. On the same note, the Day of Dead might lead to provocation of the spirits (Beatty). Therefore, this might be very disastrous to the society in case the spirits are provoked. The preparation of the event takes many days and the events of the Day of the Dead festival are very scary (Beatty). Therefore, this can make the young people have psychological problems on the happenings of the festival. The events of the festival might create psychological problems the grieved families as the memories shall be fresh in their mind year in year out.
Question Six
There are many ways to cope with death. The grieved members should shift their focus away from sadness. They can focus on remembering the best memories that they used to share with the person. The focus on the negative thoughts or regrets cannot change what happened. Secondly, you should spend time with good people though it can be very difficult to motivate yourself to get out and spend their time with their friends (Beatty). Spending time with friends can make a positive improvement in the moods of the grieved society. On the same note, one should not fake happiness as he enters his normal routine. The grieved families should save their smile when their happiness is genuine.
References
Beatty, Andrew. ‘Skulls To The Living, Bread To The Dead: The Day Of The Dead In Mexico And Beyond – By Stanley Brandes’. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15.1 (2009): 209-211. Web.Gleason, Carrie. Day Of The Dead. New York: Crabtree Pub. Co., 2009. Print.