Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

“Get involved with science. Be an art exhibit. Become part of a tree. Some options for you to think about. Death. It doesn’t have to be boring.” 

Roach believes that, as a cadaver, there are many useful things that can be done with the body, postmortem. Here, Roach encourages the reader to do something with one’s cadaver for the betterment of humankind, or for some higher, larger purpose in general.

“You are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place. My mother was gone. The cadaver was her hull. Or that was how it seemed to me.” 

Roach is an active participant in this book. She offers up her own experiences, including the deeply personal account of her mother’s death, to demonstrate the differences between “person” and “cadaver,” a difference that is highly emotional. This section also engenders some sympathy for Roach.

“I mention this to the young woman whose job it was to set up the seminar this morning that the lavender gives the room a cheery sort of Easter-party feeling. Her name is Theresa. She replies that lavender was chosen because it’s a soothing color.” 

A persistent theme in Stiff is understanding how those who handle cadavers as part of their research emotionally deal with the experience, which ranges from sociopathic delight to necessary disassociation.