The
day of the Dead is a poetry work which was obtained
from a translation of Lozano’s poem entitled the Labyrinth of Solitude which was translated by Lysander Kemp in the
year 1961. It talks about a Mexican festival which is usually held on November
1st and 2nd in every year to celebrate and remember people
who have passed away within the society. Mayors of many Mexican towns spend a
lot of money in buying items to decorate the Mexican towns and drawing of
skeletal pictures in order to depict death. This leads to unnecessary expenses
which are incurred in purchasing of less beneficial items compared to the basic
needs of the citizens (Lozano). Many people
within the towns require food and clothing more than the skeletal statues which
are bought during the celebrations.
Though
the festivals are important in commemorating the death of their loved ones, the
basic needs of the residents of the towns should be given the first priority.
The mayors should ensure that the residents within their towns are living in
decent houses and they have adequate food and clothing before deciding to spend
a lot of money in conducting festivals. The clothes which are bought to be worn
during the celebrations have skulls and human skeletal pictures drawn all over
hence making the unfit to be worn on normal days
(Carmichael). They also spend a lot of money in paying manufacturing
industries to mould products which depict human skulls for the children to eat
during the celebrations. The mayors should substitute the sugar-mould products
with other nutritious foods since most of the children do not eat healthy foods
while they at home. Most of the dwellers in the towns are middle and lower
income earners hence they struggle a lot to get money for buying food and
clothing for their families. They are highly taxed by the government while
during the celebrations a lot of money is wasted in buying skeletal statues and
paint for decorating walls of some buildings within the town.
They
also visit the gravesites of the loved ones where foods and drinks are poured
to symbolize their love and kindness to them. After the festivals, the foods
are eaten by wild animals while many people in the towns lack adequate food (Elizabeth). The mayors become motivated in
making the festivals colorful hence failing to care about the basic needs of
the residents of their towns. They order them to clean the gravesites by
cutting down weeds and planting flowers around the graves in order to make them
attractive. However, they do not emphasize on cleaning the streets in their
towns since most of them have poor drainage systems and uncovered dumpsites.
Most of the basic commodities used adding flavors to food such as salt are poured
on the sacrificial altars since they are considered to be the spices of life (Lozano).
Members
of the community are also required to buy alcoholic drinks to pour on established
altars in the gravesites. This leads to wastage of a lot of money which could
be used in buying food and clothing for their family members. Most of the
mayors spend a lot of the money which is allocated for funding development
projects within the towns hence causing the residents to live in poor
environmental conditions due to lack good facilities (Elizabeth). They should buy items which would be used to improve
the living standards of the townspeople after the festivals. They should buy
good clothes for the participants of the celebrations in order to ensure that
they can be worn on normal days after the festivals. They can also collect the
surplus food and give it to the needy people within the society instead of
pouring it on the altars in order to avoid wastage of basic commodities while
there are people who are in need of them in the society (Brandes).
Conclusion
Though Day of the Dead is an important festival
to the Mexican people, it should be performed cautiously in order to avoid
wastage of essential resources. The basic needs of the people should be
considered first in order to ensure that they have better living standards
before spending a lot of money in celebrating the death of other people. The
festivals should be planned well in order to facilitate the welfare of the
society and reduce wastage of essential resources. The mayors can also choose
other alternative sources of money which would be used to fund the festivals
other than spending the amount which is allocated for development projects
within their towns.
The festivals can also
be done collectively by involving members of different towns hence sharing the
cost of buying the required items for the celebrations. It would enable them
reduce their expenses since conducting them independently would be more costly.
They should aim at showing that life is precious by promoting good living
standards of the townspeople instead of demonstrating how loss of life causes a
great impact to the society.
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