Question

The tireless assistance of "workers" during funeral rituals is not only to show proper respect to the "owners," but also to:

A) guarantee that the "owners" will reciprocate the favor of "working" at a later funeral.
B) avoid suspicion of involvement in causing the death.
C) avoid mourning taboos and obligations by "paying their debt" as soon as possible.
D) protect themselves from the dead person's angry spirit, which remains around the corpse.

Answer 1

The tireless assistance of workers during funeral rituals is not only to show proper respect to the owners but also to avoid suspicion of involvement in causing the death.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The prevalent social beliefs on the Trobriand Islands tend to make the workers work relentlessly to carry out the funeral rituals of the owner, no matter how long they last.
• It is believed that if all the workers work with devotion to carry out the funeral rituals of the owner, none of the workers is involved in causing the death of the owner.