Why is grave digging looked down upon in the Fallout universe?

ElloinmorninJ

ElloinmorninJ

Where'd That 6th Toe Come From?
In such a dog-eat-dog world, you’d think grave digging would be....a societal norm if anything. They’re dead, they don’t need their stuff, might as well take it. The surprising thing is that people are buried with their valuables in the first place, and don’t just get all their shit taken immediately after death.
 
We're in civilized parts, for the most part, remember. These are the places holding onto a rough sense of morality and right-and-wrong. From Tribes with respected or 'our' dead at the least to towns where trade and working-your-part is part of the ethos. Grave robbing simply is 'wrong' - it's cheap, it's disturbing those who have gone through hell-on-earth, and so on. Those simple beginnings flower into huge social weeds.
 
ElloinmorninJ said:
The surprising thing is that people are buried with their valuables in the first place, and don’t just get all their shit taken immediately after death.
Click to expand...
I could see family members burying their dead with some of their valuables, but yeah, I don’t really get why any of the graves in Golgotha have valuables in them. Actually, I don’t even get why the Reno families bury people at all. Seems like a waste of energy. Richard Wright makes sense, but why would Lenny’s dad get buried at all? Just leave him to rot there.

Also, I could’ve sworn I saw a post just like this a couple months ago...
 
it's honestly not particularly more complicated than "it isn't nice"

people generally bury their loved ones by where they live and don't appreciate it when people root around in their graves
 
Imagine a friend of you dies. You burry him. Then some asshat from out of town passes by and diggs open his grave.

Will you really not care?

ElloinmorninJ said:
The surprising thing is that people are buried with their valuables in the first place, and don’t just get all their shit taken immediately after death.
Click to expand...

Why? Not all people are dirt poor.
 
People have dug graves (or engaged in some kind of purposeful funerary practice) as long as there have been people. There are two reasons for this. One, reverence for the dead. Humans form relationships with each other and want to pay their respects due to fear of our own death, and the fact that the feeling of relationships lasts beyond death, which is probably part of why so many people are invested in the concept of the immortal soul. Secondly, we feel (quite rightly) that the dead are impure or dangerous, whether this be conceptualized in terms of illness or vengeful ghosts.

If people were burying each other in caveman days, people will continue to bury each other even after the apocalypse in some contexts.
 
Might as well just be sort of empathy. You know, when I die, I don't want anyone to fuck around with my remains. Thus, if someone I know dies, I'll try to make sure that nobody is fucking around with their remains.
 
Hardboiled Android said:
People have dug graves (or engaged in some kind of purposeful funerary practice) as long as there have been people. There are two reasons for this. One, reverence for the dead. Humans form relationships with each other and want to pay their respects due to fear of our own death, and the fact that the feeling of relationships lasts beyond death, which is probably part of why so many people are invested in the concept of the immortal soul. Secondly, we feel (quite rightly) that the dead are impure or dangerous, whether this be conceptualized in terms of illness or vengeful ghosts.

If people were burying each other in caveman days, people will continue to bury each other even after the apocalypse in some contexts.
Click to expand...

That's *why* people are buried, but the question is more 'why would people throw a fit'. I mean, I can definitely imagine some society or shithole that just throws corpses into a pit and then covers it to keep illnesses and stink away, that might not care much if you go through them. But such a thing might be a raider statelet or so than a civilized town, unless it's more of a crime-den/merchant town with no real people who actually live there than just a collection of drifters, prospectors, and adventurers.
 
Even historically during eras when public hangings and even gibbetting were a thing, grave robbing (oft termed resurrectionism) was seen as an unspeakable, ghastly thing -- especially when it served the dissection trade. People do not like the dead to be fucked about with, literally or figuratively.
 
Why is cannibalism looked down upon in Fallout universe?

In such a man-eat-man world, you’d think cannibalism would be....a societal norm if anything. They’re dead, they don’t need their meat, might as well eat it. The surprising thing is that people are buried with their meat in the first place, and don’t just get all their flesh taken immediately after death.
 
Last edited:
Alphons said:
Why is cannibalism looked down upon in Fallout universe?

In such a man-eat-man world, you’d think cannibalism would be....a societal norm if anything. They’re dead, they don’t need their meat, might as well eat it. The surprising thing is that people are buried with their meat in the first place, and don’t just get all their flesh taken immediately after death.
Click to expand...

Because most human cultures seem to consider cannibalism a creepy weird thing.

Then again, there are cultures who were totally hunky-dory with it. The ancient Tupi tribes fought ritualized wars of revenge between tribes, and believed eating the flesh of their enemies would imbue them with their strength. And these guys are in my family tree for sure.

Also, there may be a practical reason: Cannibalism is a major source of Kuru, a prion diseased caused by eating human brains. So many cannibals may have paid the price and people may have linked both together, either as a disease or a curse by the gods.

This did make me wonder if human remains are good fertilizer. A culture that turns human flesh and such into fertilizer?
 
The answer to the thread is:

Because people are still people. There are plenty of social norms that are subjective, but burying the dead seems to be fairly universal.

This idea that people would lose basic concerns and ideas that make them human in the Fallout World is one that the games do not support.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top