Cannibalism in the Cars is a short story written by American writer Mark Twain in 1868. The reason I chose to appreciate and write about this literary work is Mark Twain’s supreme use of cunning and witty language portrayed on a contrasting canvas, that will survive, I believe, the test of time. This essay will primarily focus on two recurring motifs that, I assume, were the basic building blocks on which this humorous short story was built.
The first recurring motif in the first half of the story is the aforementioned utilization of contrast. While Mark Twain is widely considered a realist author, the use of this motif further suggests that Mark Twain was inspired by elements of romantic literary movement. Contrast in the story is used to
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When the passengers begin feasting on their fellow companions due to lack of available food, the narrator is so delighted and satisfied that he could not resist saying a few funny and at the same time disturbing remarks. This prompts the question as to how our preferences change depending on the situation. I liked Harris. This is perhaps a better example of ambiguity depending on the context rather than lexical or structural ambiguity. One of the next victims elected to be devoured was mister Morgan. The narrator comments on his redeeming qualities, that have little to do with how the gentleman tasted. There is no correlation between these two qualities and lack of empathy or regret from side of the narrator displays how cruel the writing is.
Cannibalism in the Cars in many aspects depicts a social eco-system of the real world. Built on political affairs of voting and climbing through ranks of surviving suggests a parallel to the real political processes where eating a certain man represents climbing the political ladder. The short story contains a lot of symbols, that may be interpreted in various ways depending on a reader but it as well emphasizes the merit this literary work brings to the
The humanity is extinct in The Road by an abolished unknown event that left the world converged in as by most of its citizen’s dead to the world, by committing suicide, turning on each other, and turning to cannibalism.
Cannibalism: It Still Exists By: Linh Kieu Ngo and Love: The Right Chemistry By: Anastasia Toufelis are the two selections assigned to go with the concept essay. In the Cannibalism essay author Ngo explains a different side of cannibalism. The side of cannibalism that is practiced for dietary reasons, ceremonial purposes, and survival. Toufexis’ essay on love talks about the “physical” more chemical and biological aspect of love, relationships, and romance. It delves into the comical explanation for passion and why people fall in love.
In Michel de Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals” and Thomas More’s Utopia, both authors depict different idealized societies. Within these depictions both Thomas More and Michel de Montaigne’s use themes such as geography, daily work routine, abundance of resources, authority, and motives for war as definitive features of their societies. Through these themes each society develops its own unique identity, differentiating one from the other yet both representing its own ideal society. Michel de Montaigne explains a simplistic and nature based perfect society free from the impurities of the developed world in his essay “Of Cannibals”, while Thomas More entertains a more developed and intricate society with established human authority in Utopia.
In The Road by Cormac McCarthy the father and the son overcomes nature’s obstacles by dealing with cannibals. The father and the son face many dangers and cannibals are one of the biggest. Throughout the book they encounter many sites of cannibalism. Such as the time when they come across what they thought was food but couldn’t really distinguish what it was until they took a closer look… “They walked into the little clearing, the boy clutching his hand… he looker quickly to see what had happened. What is it? He said. What is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What the boy had seen was a charred human infant, headless and gutted and blackening on the spit,” (198). McCarthy depicted the absolutely worst social breakdown. The weakest and most helpless of human beings – an infant – was preyed upon. Like stated before, there are other violent images in the novel, but this one seemed important to state. It shows the extreme violence, hunger, and cannibalism that the novel created in one
The article "Of the Cannibals" from Michel Eyquem de Montaigne speaks about two major problems. The first one is the problem of men telling stories subjectively instead of objectively. This problem is dealt with only in very short and there is no real solution presented in the essay. The other problem is men calling others barbarous just because they are different. The essay also deals with the word "barbarism" and what can be meant by that.
In Joel Lane’s “Among the Dead,” he is making a satire about modern corporate life and its negative effect on its employees. The details Lane includes in the story such as David being a cannibal, the over-lording corporate voice, employee desperation, and the dilapidated cityscape all contribute to this satirical message. Lane also explores the boundaries of human by providing mixed clues about David’s humanity. Lane purposefully confuses the reader to blur the lines between human and non-human to have the reader question whether cannibals are humans. The author’s modern message is that without ethics, global societies will degenerate into dystopia in which corporations disregard general welfare and employ cannibals. Lane implies that
Not only was satire a common recurring premise in all three of Mark Twain's short stories, but also his style of narrating his stories in first person was also present. Throughout his short stories, this was another repetitive theme. He commonly narrated his stores in first person and for the most part, kept the tense consistent. In the three short stories, Mark Twain was the narrator and it was through his eyes that the reader witnessed the story.
Wallace poses an interesting question in the conclusion of his essay by saying, “Do you think much about the (possible) moral status and (probable) suffering of the animals involved? If you do, what ethical convictions have you worked out that permit you not just to eat but to savor and enjoy flesh-based viands” (510). This is his whole purpose of writing this essay since this question alone brings you back through his entire essay and all the “insignificant” details he talked about and made you realize how significant they are in the amount of harm you may be bringing to the animal. This whole idea of awareness and making sure your actions line up with your morales is echoed in the writings of Jessica Mittford in her story The American Way of Death Revisited. Mittford opens the eyes of the reader to see what American’s see as a
Cannibalism, before the witch craze, was associated with heresy (Roper, 2004, p. 72). As this era's events unfolded, so too did this era's fantasies. Cannibalism, like witchcraft, was used as a horrible venue for abstract cultural fears. Roper, writing on the Thirty Years War, states that "...rumours of cannibalism...expressed the terrifying disorientation and collapse of German society," (2004, p. 72).
There are so many bad things in the world but according to many, cannibalism is considered just about the worst. Depending on your point of view, it rises above even such criminal abominations as, rape and genocide. Then again, we live in a culture, in which people would run vomiting to the bathroom if they saw what went into making their McDonald's hamburgers.
Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma breaches the topics of culture and its effects on nature through the notions of food, most notably their effects on the environment. Through the usage of descriptive language and rhetorical terms, Pollan is able to engage with the reader by disassembling the history, the morality, and the ethics that surrounds the start, and continuous growth, of the industrial food empire.
To depict the extent to which humans have twisted nature in the food industry, Michael Pollan offers anecdotes detailing modern slaughterhouses and the industrialization of meat, one of which is written about his personal connection with a steer raised for slaughter. Similar to the meat industrialization system he describes, the manner in which Pollan writes is clear and methodical, each animal designated by a number and their histories described succinctly; steer 9534’s name, for example, “signifies she was the thirty fourth cow born in 1995” (Pollan 69). However, this system greatly differs from the original nature of the process which Pollan describes. Before the mechanization of the meat industry, cattle grazed in
Style: Twain’s style is marked by the dialects of his characters, by the symbolism of the river and the shore and of Huck’s actions. The dialects help make the characters seem more like real people. The river and the shore motifs come to symbolize Twain’s view of society.
In “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Smiley is talking with stranger, challenging him to a bet involving two frogs. Gloating about his frog,”’Well,’ Smiley says, easy and careless, ‘He's good enough for one thing, I should judge he can outjump any frog in Calaveras county’” (Twain, “Celebrated”). In “Cannibalism in the Cars,” a very political-mannered man speaks up about a solution to the food shortage on the stranded train. Speaking on the topic of food, he explains, “‘It cannot be delayed longer! The time is at hand! We must determine which of us shall die to furnish food for the rest’” (Twain, “Cannibalism”). Both passages show evidence of arrogance, for example; Smiley is flaunting the abilities of his frog and the political man is acting as if he is the best suited for the decision
Cannibalism is an act that is thought to be heinous and inconceivable in the minds of men. But, contrary to what many people think, cannibalism is very much alive and still being practiced within the continental United States of America; the thing is…the government just hasn't found out about it yet. This report will take you through the history of cannibalism, the different types of cannibalism, and the different cases of cannibalism.