A Brief Analysis of the Essay "The Damned Human Race" for ADP/B.Sc. English Students.
(Notes written by Muhammad Islam, MA English / MA Urdu)
Mark
Twain, the writer "The Damned Human Race" is a central figure in American literature. To understand human nature, the great American humorist
never missed an opportunity to use the power of his pen to expose people at
their very worst.
This
is a thought provoking essay written by Mark Twain. He tells us about the
negative aspects of the human beings. He studies the darker aspect of the human
life. He observes the evils in the human beings. He is of the view that human
beings are worst than the animals. He expresses his ideas with the help of
various examples. He tells us that human beings are cruel , selfish , sexual
beasts and they are indulged in war.
Whereas animals are totally unaware from such type of negative ideas. Man
having the knowledge and wisdom , behaves just like a beast. He can kill and
deceive any one for the sake of money. He is running after material pursuits.
As far as animals are concerned that are living without any type of hatred or
greed.
Being
a scientist, Mark Twain , with the help of various examples proves that human
beings are more greedy than the animals. He says that the evolution theory of
Darwin is generally thought to be correct on account of its concentration on
the ascent of man from the lower animals. Mark Twain asserts that instead of
ascending evolution of man from the animal, there has been on the contrary the
ascending evolution of animal from man. So Darwinian theory of Ascent of Man
from the lower animals should be called the Descent of Man from the higher
animals. He makes a comparison between the man and the animals, just like ,
rooster , cat and bee.
He
is of the view that man is destroying his fellow beings just for the sake of
some personal benefits. Man is using his knowledge for the negative purposes.
He is not fulfilling his duties as the crown of the creation. So, Mark Twain
presents the gloomy picture of humanity. He is pessimistic about the nature of
man.
Twain did
many “experiments” and spent much time observing his subjects. Twain first
talks about how man is ravenous. An English Earl organized a buffalo slaughter.
He and his party killed 72 buffalo and only ate the meat off of part of one. He
tried the same type of experiment with an anaconda where he put seven calves
into a cage with an anaconda. The anaconda only ate one and then left the rest
alone. Twain thinks that this shows that the Earl is descended from the
anaconda rather than the other way around and that the Earl had lost something
in the transition.
He
also points out that people will keep accumulating money, even if they have
more than they can spend in a lifetime. Squirrels, birds, and bees also collect
things, but even when given an opportunity by twain to collect more than their
winter’s supply, they would not do it. This led Twain to the conclusion that
people are also avaricious and miserly.
His
other experiments also recognized many bad human traits such as revenge,
indecency, vulgarity, obscenity, war, slavery, Patriotism, and religion. Twain
believes that the defect in humans is the moral sense which both distinguishes
and creates evil at the same time.
Twains
essay can be interpreted in many ways because of its symbolism and irony.
Twain’s essay is entirely truthful. Even if Twain was meaning to be satirical ,
he made a lot of good points on the negative aspect of human emotion and life.
He provides many situations that are both possible and likely to happen.
This
essay is very affective at portraying Twain’s view of the world because it
includes both realistic and relevant experiments, and historical evidence. This
realism adds a certain truth to the piece that is hard to ignore. Because of
this I feel that this piece is a very strong eye opener to any people living in
the dark. It provides useful knowledge about what is going on inside many human
heads to some degree. It may even tell one about oneself, but then again if one
is suffering from these traits then one will most likely not know because one
is already so used to doing These things that they are engrained into one’s
mind.
But
his views are just one sided. He does not tell us about the greatness of man.
Man is the crown of the creation. He has done a lot for the sake of his fellow
beings. There are numerous examples in the world history that men have laid
their lives for their fellow beings. Men have presented great sacrifices as
well. But Mark Twain calls man, a beast, rather lower than a beast.
No doubt that Mark Twain has
observed the dark side of human beings. Human beings have some bad qualities
but they have numerous characteristics as well. In short we can observe that in
the modern 21st century, man is inventing modern ways of fighting.
Although it is an advanced age with a lot of progress yet man has created
disturbance in the world as well.
Satire and Irony
This
is a thought provoking essay written by Mark Twain., the Damned Human Race is a
satiric essay. It is replete with satire and irony.
Irony is defined as “The use of
words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal
meaning. It is also defined as A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous
or rhetorical effect.”
Whereas Satire is defined as “A
literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision,
or wit.”
Satire and irony become clear while he
compares behavior of a human being to a behavior of an animal. He makes a
conclusion that Darwinian Theory is wrong, and thinks that people descended
from animals, not the other way around. He underpins his believes by a number
of valid points, for example, that people think only about themselves and take
from nature much more then they need to survive. Another point is that animals,
unlike people, never hold grudges or retaliate. Mark Twain believed that the
main reason for this inhuman behavior was the sense of morality, as its aspects
vary from country to country and cause confrontations. Morals define and create
evil simultaneously.
Twain’s
arguments are also supported by a number of experiments he conducted. He tells
a story of an English Earl, who arranged a buffalo slaughter, during which 72
buffaloes were killed, and meat of only 1 was touched. He projected the same
situation on animals and placed 7 calves with an anaconda in one cage. The
anaconda only ate one and did not touch the rest. This example shows how greedy
and wasteful human beings are. Though he did not include any real facts in his
essay, as it was based entirely on his observations, he raised some disturbing
questions about the nature of a human. The Damned Human Race surely makes one
rethink his values and ideals.
Being
a scientist, Mark Twain , with the help of various examples proves that human
beings are more greedy than the animals. He says that the evolution theory of
Darwin is generally thought to be correct on account of its concentration on
the ascent of man from the lower animals. Mark Twain asserts that instead of
ascending evolution of man from the animal, there has been on the contrary the
ascending evolution of animal from man. So Darwinian Theory of Ascent of Man
from the lower animals should be called the Descent of Man from the higher
animals. He makes a comparison between the man and the animals, just like,
rooster, cat and bee.
He
is of the view that man is destroying his fellow beings just for the sake of
some personal benefits. Man is using his knowledge for the negative purposes.
He is not fulfilling his duties as the crown of the creation. So, Mark Twain
presents the gloomy picture of humanity. He is pessimistic about the nature of
man.
He
also points out that people will keep accumulating money, even if they have
more than they can spend in a lifetime. Squirrels, birds, and bees also collect
things, but even when given an opportunity by twain to collect more than their
winter’s supply, they would not do it. This led Twain to the conclusion that
people are also avaricious and miserly.
But
his views are just one sided. He does not tell us about the greatness of man.
Man is the crown of the creation. He has done a lot for the sake of his fellow
beings. There are numerous examples in the world history that men have laid
their lives for their fellow beings. Men have presented great sacrifices as
well. But Mark Twain calls man, a beast, rather lower than a beast.
No doubt that Mark Twain has
observed the dark side of human beings. Human beings have some bad qualities
but they have numerous characteristics as well. In short we can observe that in
the modern 21st century, man is inventing modern ways of fighting.
Although it is an advanced age with a lot of progress yet man has created
disturbance in the world as well.
He satirizes the negative aspects
of the human beings. He studies the darker aspect of the human life. He
observes the evils in the human beings. He is of the view that human beings are
worst than the animals. He tells us that human beings are cruel , selfish ,
sexual beasts and they are indulged in
war. Whereas animals are totally unaware from such type of negative ideas. Man
having the knowledge and wisdom , behaves just like a beast. He can kill and
deceive any one for the sake of money. He is running after material pursuits.
As far as animals are concerned that are living without any type of hatred or
greed.
In short Mark Twain in his essay
“Damned Human Race” uses the literary devices satire and irony skilfully to
expose the vices in the race of human beings.
