Rhetorical Devices In The Lowest Animals

Charles Darwin believes that all humans have evolved from the “lower animals”, but humanity manifests the complete opposite. Mark Twain in his essay, “The Lowest Animals” observes and criticizes human nature, their follies, and eradict behavior during his “experiments” by incorporating allusions to well known eras, ironic religion, and satirical parody. His purpose is to bring attention to humanity’s hypocritical ideals and behavior. He writes in a humorous tone for the people that do or indulge in the acts he is against. To begin with, Twain refers to past historical figures by stating, “He was at...else tomorrow”. He alludes to these figures to demonstrate that humans have been flawed and behaving the same throughout history even when these, ‘beloved’ public figures were around doing what they are best known for today. He icludes this to present how people like Queen Mary use violence to hurt and kill others, similar to how she did when she ordered the murder of innocent protestants. This further emphasizes his theory that humans are malice creatures that are below what is considered the “lower animals”.

He begins his essay by stating, “Man is the religious Animal” and contradicts later in the essay when he states, “Next, in...from wapping”. By including this example he demonstrates how people from different religions, all share the disliking of the concept of hate and violence, yet when put to the test they failed their gods. They were placed in the same area for a short period of time they murdered one another. Twain includes this to demonstrate that there is much tension between people of different religions, cultural backgrounds, and countries. This helps the audience understand that animals are the precocious creatures due to the fact that they can learn to live and love one another in a tranquil