Too Poor to Die by Amy Shea: Not all deaths are equal

The indignity society assigns to the disenfranchised extends into the post-death experience. The realities of dying alone, with very little to one’s name, and no prior arrangements made to ensure a smooth transition of a body to its final resting place are thrown into perspective within the chapters of this book.

The concept of death as a constant, a possibility that emerges from the very moment one is born, becomes more pressing and imminent when living out on the street.

Author Amy Shea delves into all the facets of dying while poor, from discovery to disposition, as well as the daily difficulties that contribute towards the low life expectancies recorded amongst the unhoused.

Readers are encouraged to leave their preconceived notions at the front cover and, with an open mind, enter into a world few outsiders, those completely uninvolved in the various systems and processes connecting death and marginalisation, give much consideration to.

Spoiler-Free Plot

Amy Shea’s curiosity over the final rites of the indigent began with an invitation to accompany her father for a mass burial at Fresno County’s potter’s field—an allotment where the cremains of indigent or unclaimed dead are interred. She credits this experience as being the nascence of her activism.

Included within this book are detailed descriptions and analyses of diverse media types combined with first-hand accounts of interactions between the author herself and numerous individuals, with various degrees of involvement in providing much-needed services to the poor and vulnerable in relation to the final chapters of their lives, and the recipients of care themselves.

Compelling themes are presented in a manner that aims to extend compassion and empathy towards everyone involved in contributing towards an illuminating compilation of both objective and subjective data. The group of people whose plight this composition centres on and strives to raise awareness for is well represented through the commentary they share.

Questions raised surrounding the ethics of tackling such difficult subject matter as an individual far removed from those being written about implores readers to explore their own motives that fuel their participation, interest, and even the potential apathy they may harbour in their daily lives. The breadth of evidence material provided exposes a society’s willingness to shield itself from the people it ascribes lesser value to.

My Take on Too Poor to Die

This book bears a striking title. One that is almost impossible to pass over after having read it. Automatically, the cogs began to turn in my head, mulling over its meaning, wondering about the revelatory knowledge hidden within, as the cover doesn’t give too much away.

As a reader hailing from a developing country with disparate expectations of government responsibility, the illusion of abundant and comprehensive welfare that constitutes the image a good number of outsiders may hold in their heads when thinking of the United States is periodically dismantled by the snippets of academic research, stories, and photographic images compiled together to deliver a narrative that deals in truth alone.

Drawing a comparison between the two countries was an interesting exercise. There is indeed a more concerted effort to conceal the indigent in developed countries, with districts drawing plans to contain or corral the unhoused. However, with as much digging as I did, I could not find out what the process of disposition looks like for those experiencing funeral poverty, besides fundraising efforts initiated by those closest to the deceased, for those who have anyone at all.

I found myself attempting to answer some of the questions posed through the context of my environment. Weather, availability of hygiene supplies, the spread and mitigation of disease, aid offered by non-profit organisations, and their effectiveness.

As a sum of all of these contemplations, the author’s objectives—to increase awareness over the health and death care of the poor, and for people in general, are successful. Ensuring quality care for all includes those pushed to the margins; this book makes it abundantly clear that the measure of compassion of a community directly correlates to how all members within it are treated, especially during situations when they are least able to advocate for themselves.

This book empowers people to extend their empathy to all whilst arming themselves with the information they will need to resolve the details of their wishes for their final days, granting themselves the dignity everyone deserves in life and in death.

Age Rating

16 years and above

Content Warnings

Death, Illness, Medical imagery.

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