Tuesday, June 4, 2013
The More You Learn about the Dignity of Animals...
Dian Fossey, the featured protagonist of "Gorillas in the Mist," once said that, "The more you learn about the dignity of animals (in her case gorillas), the more you want to avoid people." Given numerous works that we've read, films that we've viewed, and conversations we've had, agree, disagree or present an alternative to Fossey's position. Please offer a thoughtful response of AT LEAST TEN SENTENCES THAT ALSO INCLUDES REFERENCES TO AT LEAST TWO WORKS, FILMS OR POINTS OF CONVERSATION. THANKS.
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I find this quote by Diane Fossey very difficult to analyze and while I don't completely agree with it, I shall offer an alternative stance that doesn't necessarily agree or disagree with her views. I've interpreted Fossey's quote as animals act and treat each other more respectably and intimately. They are more noble in their actions and are "innocent" in most cases. This is all I've gathered from her quote and if I am right, this makes her statement that I would rather be with animals more than humans makes it difficult (at least for me) to agree with her. For my argument, I will use three stories (Never Cry Wolf, White Fang, A Whale For The Killing) and two discussion topics we had which involved thinking about the behavior of animals and how its similar to what we do and odd animal couples. In Never Cry Wolf, the oldest two wolves treats the cubs how to hunt. They show them technique and then let them go on their own to learn from experience. In White Fang, the mother wolf lets her young cub go out and discover the world on its own. He experiences water for the first time and this encounter will forever be in his mind as it will be added to his knowledge base of things to look out for. In both of these stories, the authors have purposely tried to make the wolves relatable. Without this connection, we as humans, might not get the point that animals are similar to us and they deserve respect. In A Whale For The Killing, the author spends the majority of the story discussing the hunting of whales for sport. The author makes it a point to touch on the brutality of the event and how the people engaged in the event show no remorse, nor do they care for the lives of animals beneath them. This would lead to the point that Fossey makes. If we don't show the "dignity" and "respect" that animals show, it could drive us to spend more time with them rather than our own kin. We spent a day, or so talking about odd couples and how relationships aren't always limited to ones own kind. I would like to say that while this is ok and does happen on occasion, this is not always the case, and since this is the case, I am lead to "assume" that we as humans (and other animals) prefer to be with our own kind. This "assumption" conflicts with the idea that even though we may revere the way that animals behave and respect each other, most of us would still prefer to be with other humans because that is the way that we are wired. In conclusion, I would like to offer a different statement to that made by Diane Fossey. I feel that after seeing the dignity portrayed by animals, it could make us question the moral ethics and actions that fellow humans show rather than make us want to be with animals more. Hopefully this big block of text made sense.
ReplyDeleteThis quote makes me think about the two excerpts we read about whales. In Whales, the narrator describes floating next to this enormous creature that has the ability to kill her with one movement. However, whales and many other animals don't respond to alien things the same way humans do. Instead of trying to destroy the unfamiliar creature, the whale just studies and does no harm because no harm has been threatened to her. Looking all through history and current issues, it's clear that humans have a much different response to alien things. Wars on many different scales are fought over religion, sexuality, and race. If instead, we reacted like whales do, the human race would be much more peaceful. This idea also comes up in Travels With Charley when the narrator is talking to the storekeeper. The storekeeper talks about how Americans "have to have" the Russians to blame for everything and how even the Russians need the Russians and perhaps they call it "Americans". This is another example of human's malicious feelings towards one another. The Russians and their ideas and beliefs are different from the United States' so therefore a large number of Americans feel that the Russians are a nuisance or shouldn't exist. I understand that there were complications with the Cold War, but it still shows the behavior and mindset that many humans have. Do whales feel like they need to hate on other whales? There's no way to know for sure, but I am fairly certain the answer is no.
ReplyDeleteThis quote reminds me indefinitely of the two stories "Travels with Charlie" and Honorable Cat" in both stories and in this quote the narrator or protagonist, a human, compares himself or herself to an animal. So according to this observation it could be said that humans would enjoy the company of animals more than humans when spending more time with animals. In "Travels with Charlie" the owner of Charlie, the dog, is uncomfortable and confused when having a conversation with another human about Russians. He didnt understand why a human could hate another human so much after understanding the love and compassion a dog can give. In "Honorable Cat" the human compares himself to the characteristics of a cat, in how it gives so much love and expects none in return. And after knowing this I would understand that neither of these humans would prefer to hang out with other humans more than animals.
ReplyDeleteHumans often focus their lives around human relationships, forgetting that life exists elsewhere, and relationships do too. Sometimes people have an easier time loving animals, as opposed to humans, because those relationships have no strings attached--we seem to get something out of animals that humans never fulfill. At least I feel that way, and many authors we have read express that. "Travels with Charley", for example. As he travels through the US, Steinbeck sees the true and frightening reality that is America: disconnectedness combined with a false sense of entitlement. People pretend everything belongs to them...and animals never claim that. By observing animals, I, too am reminded of humanity's true nature, a nature well described by Barry Lopez in "Caring for the Woods". Humans devastate all other life, with little regard nor respect for its existence. Animals do none of that. Instead of cornering my love to animals, I try to extend it to my fellow man; though I agree with Fossey that animals remind me of how many wrongs humanity commits, how poorly we treat one another, I try to twist my sentiments towards something productive. Like extend my love of animals to other humans, who also are animals (and that fact explains much of our actions). Animals are no gods. Humans are no gods. As Lopez says, "I know that to love life, to swear an allegiance to what is alive, is the essence of what I am after". Humans, too are a part of life.
ReplyDelete"The more you learn about the dignity of animals, the more you want to avoid people"
ReplyDeleteThis quote makes me think of the excerpt we read from Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley," as the narrator of the story discovers this in his conversation with another human about Russians. This conversation confuses the narrator, who can't understand why a species (specifically humans) would want to hate each other. In the end, it seems that the narrator of "Travels with Charley" has a more comfortable relationship with his dog than he does with other humans, so this would apply to the part from the quote of wanting to avoid people. In other stories such as "Never Cry Wolf" or "The Last of the Curlews," the reader gets a glimpse at how animals treat each other with respect. The author of "Never Cry Wolf" writes so that us readers may be able to relate to the lives of the wolves more, and make us realize that they aren't so different from us. Even in "Never Cry Wolf" the wolves and the deer treat each other with respect, which can be sensed from the beginning of the excerpt when they both ignore one another and are at peace. Although the wolves eventually start driving them out, it still serves as an important message concerning the dignity of animals and their willingness to respect one another even if it is for a short amount of time.
Although I understand the point Fossey is trying to make with this logical quote, I don't quite agree with it a hundred percent. In a way, I guess I am driven away from humans in the sense that I am embarrassed by them, and I feel the need to judge them when I hear about what some do to animals. For me personally, however, as I learn more and more about the dignity of animals and of the awful things we humans do to them, instead of trying to avoid humans, I feel encouraged to confront them and to teach them to be aware of what they are doing. I mean honestly, we know better! Although I may not find the quote to be completely true for me, I understand how the quote is true for many of the protagonists and narrators of most of the stories we've read throughout this course. In "A Whale for the Killing," for example, the narrator seems to have much compassion and respect for these whales. It is very clear that the narrator is interested in having a connection with these animals. When the whales are slaughtered by men for the pure fun of it, it is evident that the narrator has a problem with it since he tries to help and free the whales. The reader can also see that the narrator is much more drawn to animals than to humans by the way he expresses himself about both species throughout the story. One clear example of this is in the very first sentence of the story when he says, "The tranquil acceptance of the Fin Whales at Burgeo was in sharp contrast to an incident I witnessed..." In the first part of this quote, one can see that something positive happened, while in the second part, it is implied that something bad or horrific happened. Throughout discussions we've had in class, many times we have talked about respect in animal-animal relationships. Often times it seems as though animals show more dignity and have more respect for each other than humans do. I can see how this would drive people away from other people, since it seems we have more positive things to learn from animals than we do from our own kind. So once again, to connect this back to the initial question, although I don't quite find the quote to be complete,y true for me, I understand how it is true for others.
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