Although most individuals have a sense of human kindness, man inflicts cruelty and offensive behavior therefore, Mark Twain is correct in his statement. From a human’s perspective we are able to categorize a person as kind or cruel by the actions which they show, how they are seen, and the words they speak. Humans have been alive for thousands of centuries evolving around different characteristics. Some people might argue that humans aren 't the only cruel animal but that is not the case. Normally humans inflict emotional pain to one another out of pleasure, the feeling of doing the action and simply because it is in our nature. Any human has the capability of commiting appalling actions under the right conditions. In Mark Twain’s “The Lowest Animal” there are many observations he has proven to be correct. In his essay he states the true reality of mankind and how cruelty resides in their human nature. He persuades us that man is ignorant, avaricious and foolish. Twain writes “He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind”. This is true in many cases in terms of war and violence. There are events today that have caused great trauma throughout civilizations and it all comes down to one simple fact, the gruesome behavior of man is the responsibility for it. Our world has faced many genocides in relation to this such as the extermination of Jews or the cultural revolution in china. There is not a
They do not wish for a simple victory without fighting, but plea for horrible things to come to their opponents. In these lines from the messenger we get Twain’s personal view of imperialism. It seems as if Twain is the only one that realizes that everybody thinks that God is in favor for only their side. Due to the controversial aspects of this story, The War Prayer does not fall in line with the other national literature pieces that were read and discussed in class, which is why it is an excellent piece to add to the curriculum. It is its own unique version of national literature that focuses more on the issues of war rather than national
In “The Lowest Animal”, Mark Twain explains man’s morals and ethics as they compare to the “higher” animals, while in the poem “Ethics” by Linda Pastan, a simple situation is given to show what a person believes is right and wrong; both works reveal the theme hope. Mark Twain takes an interesting approach to explain human nature in his work, “The Lowest Animal”. For example,“[h]e is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it” (Twain 538). People understand that hurting another human being is wrong, whether that be physical or mental abuse. However they sometimes do it anyways for the satisfaction that the action provides.
The following document reflects on the subjective matters and different thoughts of an author on the human actions. In Theodore Dalrymple “what we have to lose”, the author seems to questions human integrity, argues on the rule of barbarism and describes civilization as the key. I personally, happen to agree to all the arguments made by
In the essay, Twain begins with an anecdote that is, unbeknownst to the reader, actually a metaphor for how we are a “Slave” to common beliefs, and explains to the audience that “we only imitate” the feelings and actions of others. This results in the “outside influences… pouring in upon us”, something that the author clearly feels is an insult to the progression of humanity as a whole. The connotation of all the above words make you feel as if public opinion is not necessarily a helpful part of our lives, but indeed an overwhelming burden that is giving to us. In addition, saying “we only imitate” others as makes it seem as if Twain is trying to be insulting to the audience because he is basically saying everything is fake if we can do nothing ourselves. Although it seems as if Twain is going to be praising public opinion in the beginning when he says how the slaves words were “deeply impressed upon me”, it is clear as he continues he is under the opinion that being under the influence of popular trends is not necessarily always a good thing.
Humans do not share the traits of empathy or hostility, but the trait of greed instead. Greed is at the core of all humans on earth. Greed is the reason behind the acts of evil that are shown in the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Before launching the boulder at piggy, Golding describes him as, Roger with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (Golding 181). Roger isn’t evil to please others or to follow orders.
If the presumed understanding that God is not supposed to be terrible but is made out to be so; the putative thinking that prayers proclaimed were not the actual prayers of the heart; and the conjectural acceptance of merciless torture for the enemy that was not initially declared are all revealed to the reader, then he/she would be galvanized to be against war—Twain’s argument. These new truths justify that the true meaning of these prayers by demolishing the facts in support of war—which is just merciless annihilation of
Human nature includes characteristics such as thinking, feeling and acting that are shared by all people. While human nature can lead us to be kind and loving, it can also cause us to be competitive, selfish and aggressive. “The Lowest Animal” by Mark Twain and “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” by Frederick Douglas both display the destructive side of human nature. In Mark Twain’s essay, animals are compared to humans in a number of experiments. He describes humans as cruel, greedy and foolish.
Twain argues that a trait the human species has gained that sets us apart from animals is “moral sense”. He states that this trait is where all of our unfavorable customs stem from, such as cruelty, greed,
“Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them” (Twain). In this satirical essay Mark Twain discusses his ideas about mankind’s useless morel sense. He observes that humans are the only species to possess a moral sense, yet they use it to perform evil. He states after comparing animals to humans he is humiliated to conclude that man is the least evolved of all species. Despite his use of satire, false authority and hasty generalizations, his piece was successful.
Another example of metaphor in the novel is how Mr. Twain depicts the characters to enunciate his views of the bigotry of social norms pushing the reader in a sense to understand what he means. Huckleberry Finn with his innocence and Jim with a thirst for equality metaphorically portray the minorities, Pap the trope of humanity that are corrupted and deprived by those that are uncivilized. “You’re educated, too, they say—can read and write. You think you’re better’n your father, now, don’t you, because he can’t?
Humans lie and steal without hesitation to survive. That is how man is. However, human nature does not allow for cruelty to exist without the other end of the spectrum - kindness. In his novel, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak reveals the extreme malice possible in humans, along with the tenderness that stems from it. In times of hate and paranoia in Nazi Germany, ones who live morally are rare.
Injustices, tragedies, and unfortunate circumstances have plagued humankind for all of existence. Many of these problems have arisen from the society of man, and could not be found in nature. The hatred, selfishness, prejudice, and maliciousness seen in so many injustices man created unnecessarily, as well as all the suffering it causes does not need to exist. If an individual witnesses a crime or injustice occurring, it is their responsibility to defend the weak and fight for whatever is morally right, even at the cost of themselves.
The conceptualization of a better world has always plagued the mind of our species. However, this notion comes with the realization that mankind is and has always been cruel and terrifying, even to each other. Although some people tend to believe that they live in a perfect society, most people have never really explored the dark side of themselves until analyzing the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Poe established themselves as anti-transcendentalists through their spine-chilling literature of horror, giving us the basis to what is today’s horror. They showed us what cruel animals humans can truly be.
Just because Curley doesn’t have a wonderful life or always looking for his wife or even just because he likes to tease people he shouldn’t use cruelty against others just for his satisfaction and it’s okay for him. As well as Carlson who really wants to kill Candy’s dog just because he’s old and smelly. Cruelty shouldn’t just be used because it feels right for them. How can people be simply cruel? A character who I think is simply cruel in general is Curley since he is always complaining about everything and always asking around for his wife who is simply always disappearing.
“These experiments convinced me that there is a difference between man and the higher animals: he is avaricious and miserly; they are not.” This quote by Mark Twain portrays his stance on the idea of mankind’s feeling of superiority over other species. Although some people believe mankind is superior on Earth, the reality is the human species is the lowest species due to the fact that we are the only species to experience greed and stinginess. Humans have the urge to always collect more, more of anything, even if it is more than necessary. “ I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown ribid hunger for more, and have not scruple to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appetite.