The Animal Within

Humans are described in biology as being animals and more specifically, mammals. However, humans are distinguished from and are not merely described as animals for their intelligent reasoning capabilities. Even still, one can at times reflect on how human behavior suggests innate animalistic qualities. Certain instances that comment on animalism in humans can be found in literature. Three specific works are: “Wolf-Alice” by Angela Carter, “A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman, and “All Summer in a Day” by __. In these works, animalism is a recurring theme used as a means to highlight innate barbaric, animal-like qualities in humans, that ultimately affect established interpersonal relationships.

In the short story “Wolf-Alice,” the reader is exposed to an unvarnished, basic character named Alice, who was raised by wolves. Growing up without human interaction has left Alice lacking in qualities normally associated with adult humans—developed language, motor skills, and continence, among others. In the story, she is described as having “furred thoughts” and a “primal sentience that existed in a flux of shifting impressions” (Carter 144). The word choice “furred” allows the reader to impose the meaning of a furred creature, namely an animal. Another word choice shown here is “primal,” which suggests that Alice is not advanced and does not show higher levels of thinking. However, although Alice resembles an animal, she is still completely human. Being human while still showing animal-like qualities serves to connect the two together.

The narrator of the story comments that Alice was “secluded … in animal privacy out of fear of her imperfection because it showed us what we might have been” (Carter 144). This line in the text is signif...

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...d did not stop running” (Bradbury 4). Using the word choice “animals” clearly states the narrator’s intention to show the similarities between the children and wildlife. Again, this fast-paced behavior that lacks any superior thought can be equated to an animal. These examples in this short story strengthen the argument that humans have an inner “animal.” In several situations, when confronted with something never seen before—the sun—the children reduce their intelligent reasoning capabilities to experiencing the world directly through their senses, and even forget to remember one of their classmates they shunned, Margot. Just as Alice in “Wolf-Alice” was secluded from others, and how the “mad” people in “A Study in Emerald” interacted with each other, the children also resemble a wild nature that causes them to lose all sense of caring for one of their classmates.