McTeague, or Animalism - Unpublished
The last decade of the twentieth century in America saw a rise in programs for human’s “self betterment.” A popular form of betterment is that of the inner animal. Interest in Native American animal mysticism, vision quests, and totem animals have increased dramatically in the past few years. No forms of media have been spared; Calvin Klein’s supermodels come on during sitcom commercials to tell viewers they need to be a beast, or to get in touch with their animal within. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, however, animalism was viewed not as a method of self-improvement but as the reprehensible side of humanity that lingered beneath the surface, waiting for an opportune time to come out and play. In Frank Norris’ novel McTeague, humans are no better than the beasts they claim to control. They cage and torment defenseless creatures, but cage and torment themselves far, far, worse. McTeague, Trina, Zerkow, and Marcus are animals in thin human’s clothing, walking the forests of McTeague, waiting for the opportunity to shed their skin and tear each other apart, while the real animals of the world continue leading lives far superior to their human counterparts.
McTeague, the title character of the work, is the king of beasts in San Francisco. A charlatan dentist who constantly mumbles and growls when speaking, he makes his living by causing great pain to his fellow human beings. The woman he falls in love with, Trina Sieppe, is a patient in his chair. McTeague’s love is spawned from the agony of false orthodontics. Although etherized, Trina experiences the hurt of McTeague’s drills. As he works his macabre work on the beautiful girl, McTeague begins to see her as more and more attractive. The pain is a sexual catalyst for McTeague; like an animal on the hunt, he becomes aroused by the suffering he causes Trina. The instinct to take advantage of the defenseless girl becomes overpowering, and he eventually gives in to his raging, bestial nature and plants a dog-like smooch on her lips. From this love forged in sex, the downfall of McTeague and Trina is cast.
McTeague resembles the beast inside more and more as his marriage progresses. At first, sexually dominating Trina satiates him. Like a drug, however, a greater dosage is ne...
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...bsp; The final stab at humans is the way the animals in the story act. The two dogs in the alley are constantly fighting each other with barks. They are confined to cages, so for a long time they never have the opportunity to come to blows. Cages can only hold a creature for a finite amount of time, however, and eventually an opportunity arises where the two animals finally meet. Instead of tearing each other to shreds, they sniff each other and seem quite satisfied with the other. The fact that the dogs can succeed where the humans failed goes a long way in explaining the other character’s actions.
The four principle characters of McTeague fall short where two “simple-minded” canines win. According to Norris, humans are less than animals; they are slow-witted beasts barely able to come to grips with their own nature. Instead of pretending they are so high and mighty, Norris forces people to realize that their humanity causes them to fall beneath the animals. The very things humans pride themselves on are their downfall, and the animals are laughing, laughing as humans hunt and kill themselves closer and closer to extinction.
In the essay entitled “The Sacred Conspiracy” by Georges Bataille, there is a text that says, “A world that cannot be loved to the point of death—in the same way that a man loves a woman—represents only self-interest and the obligation to work. If it is compared to worlds gone by, it is hideous, and appears as the most failed of all. …Men today profit in order to become the most degraded being that have ever existed,” (Bataille 179). Interestingly enough, the comment can be applied to the problematic relationship of the human and the animal as seen in Byron Haskin’s film The Naked Jungle.
Taylor, Angus. Magpies, monkeys, and morals: what philosophers say about animal liberation. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 1999.
Throughout more than two hundred years Americans have witnessed more then fifty-six inaugural addresses. In those speeches presidents have been utilizing rhetoric to make their points and outline their positions on important issues before the nation. Both of President Obama’s Inauguration Speeches successfully craft rhetoric through
Society has placed humans to be the highest life form because of their ability to think and reason and give consent. On these grounds it has allowed society to become numb to any injustice done to animals in any way. This essay will argue whether the subjugation of minority women is linked to the way society views and treats animals by defining current animal rights, the Women’s rights Movement and the process by which the minority is seen as an animal.
Mary Shelley brings about both the positive and negative aspects of knowledge through her characters in Frankenstein. The use of knowledge usually has many benefits, but here Shelley illustrates how seeking knowledge beyond its limits takes away from the natural pleasures of known knowledge. She suggests that knowledge without mortality and uncontrolled passions will lead to destruction. Victor and his monster experience this destruction following their desires and losing self control. Walton, on the other hand, becomes of aware of the consequences and is able to turn back before it’s too late. Shelley also suggests that without enjoying the natural pleasures of life, pursuing knowledge is limited, but how can knowledge be limited if it is infinite?
If a mass killer’s murders are committed in more than just a single location, then they are part of a continuous action (Murder 1). Their victims are usually chosen at random, not just killed at first sight. Their targets may also come in specific groups. More than occasionally, a mass murderer will take his own life after his urge to kill is over. This is possibly because authorities recognize the killer is unstable and are likely to shoot the killer in order to protect themselves. A typical mass murderer uses a semi-automatic weapon and plots his murders to be made in a school, university, or restaurant (murder 1).
Albert Einstein once said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.” Einstein believes that there is a point where the acquisition of knowledge becomes dangerous for humans. Mary Shelley extensively explores the effect dangerous knowledge has on the characters in her book Frankenstein. Throughout the book, Frankenstein and the creature are corrupted by knowledge that changes their outlooks on life. In both cases, the information that corrupts the characters was not meant for them to be discovered. When Frankenstein is discovered in the Arctic by a sailor named Walton, he is taken on board of Walton’s boat. Frankenstein then tells Walton about his quest for information, and it changes Walton’s perspective on the pursuit of
Indians understood animals to be powerful creatures possessing their own spiritual power and deserving of respect, but available as a food source. Therefore, Natives struggled to understand that animals could be property, but under the pressure of the English invasion attempted to integrate livestock into their lives. On the other hand, the English saw animals as property and as an indication of the supremacy of sophisticated agricultural culture. In part two, “Settling with Animals” Anderson examines the development of livestock agriculture in North America. The imported animals changed not only the land, but also “the hearts and minds, and behavior of the people who dealt with them”. (p.5) When the English arrived in America with their livestock the colonists became less focused on the animals and more focused on the cultivating of fields for crops for export and food purposes. The lack of labor and costs involved in the operation of farm lands led to the English being forced to allow their animals to roam freely in the woods. Ultimately, they lost control of the livestock and many of the herds became as feral as the animals the Indians typically
“The relationship of homo sapiens to the other animals is one of unremitting exploitation. We employ their work; we eat and wear them. We exploit them to serve our superstitions: whereas we used to sacrifice them to our gods and tear out their entrails in order to foresee the future, we now sacrifice them to science, and experiment on their entrail in the hope — or on the mere off chance — that we might thereby see a little more clearly into the present.” Brigid Brophy stated this quote in The Sunday Times in the year of 1965. It is a common belief that Brophy’s article may have been the spark for the animal rights movement. The Animal Rights Movement is the social movement that I have decided to write about. It was believed to have started
Throughout our lives we make many choices, all having effects. The choices we make might not always affect us. Out of which, some of them might affect other people and those choices are which the person has to decide on what they believe is right and wrong and this is referred as ethical choices. For example, if a person sees someone getting beaten up by a group of people, should he either walk away or take action and if he does take action, there is a chance that harm might come his way. In this scenario the choice he makes can be called an ethical choice. This raises the question of what is ethically right and what isn’t. Similarly, writers often call for change by framing their argument in terms of ethical choice. Writers such as Claire
Humans and animals have always coexisted together for as long as man could remember and exist. They would hunt each other for survival, sometimes man would come out as the victor, and sometimes it was the animal. Mankind would feast on them like they would feast on us. With time, this relationship would change. The animals would become our companions as well as being our food. They would become our hunting tools, such as in tracking prey. They would later be used as our means of transport and also as labor tools, such as when humans would need help working on their farmland. Let’s not forget that they also provide us with entertainment, such as in a zoo or as a circus attraction. Although only some cultures still consider some animals as sacred, most of us look down on them, consider them inferior to us. There was however a time when we worshipped them more and even admired them. We will explore this worship and admiration of animals in this essay as we compare and contrast the depictions of animals in the Upper Paleolithic period in cave arts and in Ancient Egypt in order to identify the presence of a shift, if there was one, in our reverence of animals in between both periods.
In the days before serial killers were acknowledged phenomena murderers were often thought to be mythological creatures, because it was easier to blame inhuman creatures than to accept that humans could be evil enough to commit such crimes. Elizabeth Bathory was one such murderer, and was thought to be a vampire, while Albert Fish held the dubious honor of being called the Werewolf of Wysteria, and even the Boogeyman.
Kenneth Grahame’s use of personification by having animals represent humans in many of his stories can be interoperated as an analogy for how making selfish and rash choices, can cause humankind to look barbaric and primitive, just as animals.
The theme pursuit of knowledge is consistent throughout the text, shown by three of the main characters in Frankenstein. The theme is shown in many different aspects by all three characters. The pursuit of knowledge lead to Victor’s destruction. The pursuit of knowledge lead Victor’s Creature to becoming aware of himself and point of view society has on him. The pursuit of knowledge helped Robert Walton realize his strive for success has lead him to discovering the consequences of his pursuit of knowledge can effect other people. Through the book Frankenstein the reader can infer that the pursuit of knowledge can lead to a destructive future.
According to Fox News Eric Bolling a conservative American television personality who specializes in financial news and political commentary in 2014 he said that racism does not exist in American society. Bolling state that, “It’s getting tiring. We have a Black president, Black senators, we have Black heads — captains of business, companies, we have Black entertainment channels. Where is the… Is there racism? I don’t think there’s racism. I think the only people perpetuating racism are people like this gentleman from NAACP, are the Al Sharptons of the world. Let’s move on. Let’s move on.”8 However, Eric Bolling statement is wrong racism still exist in the United States because according to the evidence using in this paper such as Jamilah DaCosta shows how there are discriminated people in this country, due to the fact of their color. In addition people are discriminated also because of their nationality and the sexual orientiation and most of the evidendence demonstrate in this paper shows recently cases of discrimination that happens in the United States what also reveals that although there are organizations and laws that have been formed to work against discrimination and unequal treatment of people it has been impossible to entirely prevent the amount of racism and discrimination against