The Damned Human Race By Mark Twain Summary

What makes a being more evolved? Who are we to say that humans are the most evolved or even the least? It is believed by some that we are descended from the "higher animals", whereas others believe that we have ascended from the "lower animals". In Mark Twain's essay, "The Lowest Animal" (1896), he portrays the idea that the human race has no hope, as we have too many flaws. It is undeniable that we have our flaws, but what creature on this planet does not? The human race may not be perfect, or reaching perfection anytime soon, but it does progress and develop as time goes on. As humans, we are neither substantially higher nor lower than animals. Although foolish actions are performed towards each other and our planet, we have also

Mark Twain’s essay, The Lowest Animal, details about our human beings’ bad and disgusting aspects. He talks about human beings’ greed, cruelty, vulgarity, wastefulness, and other lots of evil aspects. By introducing these things, he

     "Mark Twain, which is a pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens, was born in 1835, and died in 1910. He was an american writer and humorist. Maybe one of the reasons Twain will be remembered is because his writings contained morals and positive views. Because Twain's writing is so descriptive, people look to his books for realistic interpretations of places, for his memorable characters, and his ability to describe his hatred for hypocrisy and oppression. HE believed he could write. Most authors relied on other people and what they said, but because Twain was so solitary, he made himself so successful. 1"

How would you feel if you tried you’re hardest to be good but only had bad things happen to you? It simply wouldn’t seem fair. This was the case for Jacob Blivens whom, “The Story of the Good Little Boy” was fictionally about. Try as he might nothing works out in the end for Jacob which is a lesson we all could learn from. You can do your best to achieve something but it doesn’t mean that in the end it will work out how you want it to. Twain’s opinion that Jacob lives his life for an unrealistic dream comes out in his use of diction, characterization, and irony.

In his essay, “The Lowest Animal”, Mark Twain attempts to prove a pessimistic opinion of his. He compares humans to animals, and explains how contrary to widespread belief, humans are a lower animal to other species. While he makes some valid points about greed, selfishness, and violence, he misses the overall picture of human nature. I firmly believe that the human race is made of not only civilized, but caring human beings. If humans were as abominable as Twain attempts to make us out to be, we would not have countries, communities, or any other caring and loving, individual connections. We would also have countless amounts of prisons, prisoners, high mortality rates due to violence, and lower life-spans. Twain writes from a subjective point of view, allowing his opinions of

In Mark Twain 's satirical essay, “The Damned Human Race,” Twain critiques human beings by declaring that “The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner.” The motif of cowardice and the cruelty of humanity is also present in another one of Twain’s most famous works: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Throughout this novel, Twain passionately decries the immorality and corruption of society through the employment of rhetoric and themes. He utilizes irony to draw attention to the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of many Christians and the detrimental effects this hypocrisy can have on society. He implements pathos to highlight the greed and

     Twain ends his paper stating that the cause for man?s cruelty is that of the ?moral sense.? Man is the only animal that owns it, yet it is the primary cause for his degradation. ?Without it,? Twain

The purpose of the reading for Mark Twain was to show: “That the human race is of one distinct species. That other animals also more or less distinct and that they are in the procession. They are links in the chain which stretches down from the higher animals to man at the bottom” (Twain). He eases his readers into his claims strategically by presenting his facts and findings. He frantically unravels as he depicts his findings to show the believed evidence as he attempts to stake his claim.

Mark Twain has been seriously accused by many including Toni Morrison of being a "racist author," whose writing is offensive to black readers, which spreads cheap slave-era stereotypes.

In Mark Twain’s The Damned Human Race, he refutes the Darwinian theory of the “Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals,” arguing that the theory should be named the “Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.” He says that he accumulated research from his own investigations and used the scientific method to come to this conclusion. While emphasizing his argument, Twain uses tone to help bring his point across to the readers. The best use of tone throughout his essay is the use of satire, or the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize foolishness or corruption. Twain says that, “He [Man] is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.” He then provides why this statement is true, and gives real world

Humans have come a long way, being able to create advanced technology, many different ways to communicate with one another, and many different ways to live, and each human in the world has a role in the world. Each human is unique and have many different traits that define one another. For example, in Frederick Douglass’s “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, written by Frederick Douglass himself, is an autobiography of his life growing up around slavery and his path to freedom, and also how becoming literate changed his whole perspective on the way he lived. Another example would be in Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address, where he discusses the fact that the civil war was unnecessary and also how the country should end the war and that they should help each other rebuild the nation together. A final example would be in The Minister’s Black Veil, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who writes about Mr. Hooper who wears a black veil, and the townspeople have no clue why he’s wearing it, and this scares the town and the people around him. This veil holds a heavy toll on him because it represents his sins that he needs to atone for. Although humans are naturally evil and make decisions that are based to benefit themselves, ultimately the trait of the human is to be cowardice, fearful, and optimistic, therefore we should not succumb to our greediness and instead become a better person.

Through his scathing remarks on the flaws of man, Twain finally actualizes the focal point of his argument, the Defect of Man. He claims that Man, in “true loftiness of character,” cannot claim to surpass even the lowest realm of the Higher Animals nor will he ever be capable of even approaching that altitude (3). Because, as he argues, Man is so “constitutionally afflicted” with this defect, it inhibits his person, permanently halting any acclivity he attempts to make in his standings. The perpetual Defect Twain speaks of, which is present in every human, is the thought to be beneficial, Moral Sense. Contrarily, he asserts that it only has one capacity in man, to facilitate man’s wrongdoings, an ability as valueless as a disease. While he

One of the most influential celebrities that people looked up to was, Samuel L. Clemens, an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer, who was better known as Mark Twain. Mark Twain originally wrote “The Lowest Animal” in 1896 but it was not published until 1962, due to his death in 1910 he never got to officially publish his work. In Twain’s essay, “The Lowest Animal,” he exercises techniques of direct comparisons and irony to justify that man is the lowest animal by describing that man has significant faults, like cruelty, compared to other animals and how man is the “unreasoning” animal, which is the root of his devious nature.

The true nature of human action remains as an enigma for many and it is question whose answer is everywhere in the civilization that we have all collectively built. The author Jane Austen in persuasion believes that each person is self serving and kind when it 's in their best interest. Contrary to Austens’ belief, Mark Twain with“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” shows a more optimistic view of human nature where the guilt and sense of sympathy are the driving emotions behind every action. Similarly, in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith identifies the empathy and duty as a primary cause for the kindness in each person. Every person is hardwired to be a social and inherently good person driven by the emotional consequences and

To me, this quote means that as long as you do what you want and follow your dreams, they will come true. I can somewhat relate to this because I am both cautious and careful at some things I do, and lazy and uncaring about others. So far, I have gotten some sort of success from how I behave, but sometimes it doesn’t work out and I regret it. This most likely relates to Mark Twain himself because of what he has done in his life, and the fact that this is his quote.