Summary: This article poses one main question. Is it morally wrong to consume another human being during desperate times. On October 12, 1972 a propeller-driven Fairchild F-227 fled Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. The plane was headed for Santiago, Chile. Forty people were on the plane. The pilots expressed concern because of the turbulence over the Andes Mountains. That day the plane landed, but soon after they took off again, and the plane crashed into a snow covered valley within the mountains. The people on the plane were at 12,000 feet with out food and only had the limited shelter of what was left of the airplane. Many didn't survive the cold or the crash, but the few that did survive did so in a very grotesque way. They ripped open the bodies of the dead and ate their flesh to survive. One man that consumed the bodies said that the soul was gone and the body was simply meat and essential for their survival. Soon after others followed.
Relation to Sociology: Human flesh was not created for consumption, but when the circumstances change so does the meaning we hold for it. Just like the example Mrs. Castelli used in class. Kissing ones boyfriend or girlfriend is not considered gross. Although if I told the male to drink the saliva that his girlfriend spit on a spoon that would get a different reaction. Things change according to context and circumstances.
Relation to my life: This article relates to my life because I can think of a similar situation where I attached meaning to something. Both Kyle and I have a leather wound bracelet that we wear on our left wrist. This bracelet is meaningful to me because it represents our friendship. To anyone else it would "look like" a scrawny piece of string.
Dasiy, I completely agree with what you are talking about. Actions can have different meanings and represent different things in different situations. It seems an unbelievable conclusion to us, eating your friends, but if they were viewed as the only meat for survival the meaning would be different. We all have our own meanings for curtain things. Kyle and you have your bracelets; my friends and I have our own symbols of friendship that others don't understand. You're blog was very interesting this week. Thanks.
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Exactly. When faced with a certain situation our cultural norms certainly can change! Its interesting to see how people form attachments to things that others might view as pointless.
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