Mark Twain's The Lowest Animal, By Mark Twain

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People aren’t all bad, but there are a lot that act like they are the lowest animal species. Mark Twain’s, “The Lowest Animal”, talks about how people are vulgar, cruel, and depraved. He states that Mankind is the only animal that cruel to other animals and to their own kind. Although I agree with what Mark Twain says, I also believe that there are people that have some kindness to them as well. Mark Twain says that “Man is the only slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another” (Twain). His point is valid, because we have had black slaves and egyptians working and doing hard labor for their masters. Most of their work could have killed them too. But they had no other choice as they were forced to become slaves and had no other option. “It was a unique horror and crime against humanity. It involved treating Africans as objects, utterly dehumanizing them” (revealinghistories.org). Man is also alone in the distinction that they are the only one that is cruel out of all the animals. “He is the only one that inflicts pain only for the satisfaction of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals” (Twain). I agree with this statement because most animals just kill for their survival. They only view other animals as a source of food. They don’t torture their prey. This is a great comparison to Man, as man is known to torture and kill

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