Summary Of A Cuckoo In The Nest

In James Serpell’s book, In the Company of Animals, chapter 2 “A cuckoo in the nest” argues that pets are not parasites, but rather live in a symbiotic relationship with their owners. Serpell starts his argument by talking about the parasitic relationship between the Atemeles beetles and ants. Through various bodily functions, the Atemeles beetles can find their way into the highly defensive ant colony. When they have successfully infiltrated the colony, they begin their attack without being noticed. Inside, the beetles and their offspring are taken care of by the worker ants. Serpell argues that this type of parasitic relationship is not what occurs in the relationship between a pet and their owner.
Serpell says that although humans are more intelligent than ants, they are predisposed to take care of living beings …show more content…
For example, they would talk to their pets in a similar manner as their children. They would even refer to their pets as their child and interact with them immensely on a daily basis. This could be explained by the animal’s physical appearance and behavior (81). Throughout the centuries, the domestication of dogs has caused them to become smaller and take on infant like attributes such as being small and cuddly (81). These types of attributes turn on the cute response in humans and make them want to care for these animals. Also, animals such as dogs and cats are able to retain their infantile behavior into adulthood, which encourages humans to take care of them. With this need to take care, humans nurture these pets until they cannot anymore. Serpell argues that although it seems that pets have become a social parasite, they are not. Humans are well aware their pets are just their pet, and not their actual child. Humans willingly want to care for these animals. Pet keeping still exists because of this willingness to care for the infants of other