NO HOPE FOR THE HUMAN RACE! Or is there? Renowned author, Mark Twain,
invites you to take a stance in his essay, “The Lowest Animal”, published in 1896. Twain argues
that humans are lower than animals. He believes being conscious of what we do as humans,
enables us to do wrong. Twain begins to build his critique with humorous personal studies,
himself as a credible source, using historical facts and behaviors and exploiting your inner
tenderness to bring about an emotional response. At the end of his argument, he will leave you
deep in thought as to the state of human nature. However, being a writer and not a scientist, he
brings slight discredit upon himself thus negatively affecting his withdrawal from Charles
Darwin’s theory.
In …show more content…
He wastes no time retracting from the, “Darwinian
theory” (1). At the point in time of this piece of writing, Charles Darwin and his theories on
evolution and the animal kingdom were highly controversial. In a period of much creationism,
Darwin’s theories caused much speculation. Twain specifically transfers his own view of man’s
descent from the, “higher animals” (1).
Peeler 2
His claim of his scientific experiments he used in order to come to this conclusion are
satirical and but done so in a way, that readers who have no idea who Twain is, may very well
believe his so called “study” at the London Zoological Gardens, to be truthful and valid (2). His
use of his, “three generalizations of wit”, shows the reader that he has a firm grasp on the
distinction between the species he allegedly studies. His use of pathos begins when he describes
how hunters on the Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for an English earl. He describes how
they, “killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate one of them and left the seventy-one to
rot” (4). This begins his sub-claim of only humans kill for sport.
Do animals also kill for sport? His pseudo-experiment goes on to describe putting …show more content…
He seems perturbed in the fact that animals have no religion,
yet are left out of our precious higher plane of existence.
He continues on with his subjective view on mankind by posing his final sub claim, but
not without his last pseudo-experiment. Aside from the need to kill out of necessity, animals
seem to have no issues living among one another. He claims to have taught these lower forms to
be friends, combining classes of animals together in cages. In the combination they seemed to
have, “lived together in peace; even affectionately” (17). He ties his original claims together with
his experiment of combining the different classes of humans in a cage together, only to return to
find them all dead. He writes, “These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail
and carried the matter to a Higher Court” (18).
He concludes his argument and observation, using all of his claims of support, stating he
has found man’s, “defect to be the Moral Sense” (20). This is the true cause of our degradation
and without it we would not only have no need to do wrong, but would actually start to progress
as a species. Our “Moral Sense has no other office” (20). It seems to manifest itself as an
invites you to take a stance in his essay, “The Lowest Animal”, published in 1896. Twain argues
that humans are lower than animals. He believes being conscious of what we do as humans,
enables us to do wrong. Twain begins to build his critique with humorous personal studies,
himself as a credible source, using historical facts and behaviors and exploiting your inner
tenderness to bring about an emotional response. At the end of his argument, he will leave you
deep in thought as to the state of human nature. However, being a writer and not a scientist, he
brings slight discredit upon himself thus negatively affecting his withdrawal from Charles
Darwin’s theory.
In …show more content…
He wastes no time retracting from the, “Darwinian
theory” (1). At the point in time of this piece of writing, Charles Darwin and his theories on
evolution and the animal kingdom were highly controversial. In a period of much creationism,
Darwin’s theories caused much speculation. Twain specifically transfers his own view of man’s
descent from the, “higher animals” (1).
Peeler 2
His claim of his scientific experiments he used in order to come to this conclusion are
satirical and but done so in a way, that readers who have no idea who Twain is, may very well
believe his so called “study” at the London Zoological Gardens, to be truthful and valid (2). His
use of his, “three generalizations of wit”, shows the reader that he has a firm grasp on the
distinction between the species he allegedly studies. His use of pathos begins when he describes
how hunters on the Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for an English earl. He describes how
they, “killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate one of them and left the seventy-one to
rot” (4). This begins his sub-claim of only humans kill for sport.
Do animals also kill for sport? His pseudo-experiment goes on to describe putting …show more content…
He seems perturbed in the fact that animals have no religion,
yet are left out of our precious higher plane of existence.
He continues on with his subjective view on mankind by posing his final sub claim, but
not without his last pseudo-experiment. Aside from the need to kill out of necessity, animals
seem to have no issues living among one another. He claims to have taught these lower forms to
be friends, combining classes of animals together in cages. In the combination they seemed to
have, “lived together in peace; even affectionately” (17). He ties his original claims together with
his experiment of combining the different classes of humans in a cage together, only to return to
find them all dead. He writes, “These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail
and carried the matter to a Higher Court” (18).
He concludes his argument and observation, using all of his claims of support, stating he
has found man’s, “defect to be the Moral Sense” (20). This is the true cause of our degradation
and without it we would not only have no need to do wrong, but would actually start to progress
as a species. Our “Moral Sense has no other office” (20). It seems to manifest itself as an