H. Ridders significance of embalming

            
             Rider Haggard's book "She," the concept of immortality plays a big role in the actions of the characters; whether it be in the family histories or within the characters.
             The iron chest that Leo Vincey Sr. leaves to his son provides the first example of immortality. The chest is a vivid example of a living legacy; though generations of Vincey's have passed on centuries and millenniums ago, their names and messages live on in the security of the iron chest. The fear of being forgotten is erased and the story of the Vincey's is given the chance to live on through the years.
             The embalming of the human body is also a significant mode of immortalizing the body. Father Billali shows Holly the foot of the once beautiful woman, and Holly is mystified by the way that the foot has remained in tact without the slightest bit of decay or wear. The significance of the embalming process was to give the body a way of preserving itself from the affects of time and other external factors. In this way the people of the earth could find a way to escape from the fear of being forgotten after their souls departed from the world in their time. .
             I think that the significance of embalming as well as protecting history is a result of our innate fear of being forgotten when we pass on. I believe that by leaving a trace of our existence humans and the characters within the book are forever promised a place in the future and the history to come.