Wolsky 1

Nathaniel Wolsky

Mrs.Kitt

English 3P; Period 4

31 March 2017

The Evil World Of Man

American Realism gives the reader an insight on what the real world is like, no

sugar coating the cold truth. Stories like Mark Twains The Lowest Animal , Jack

London's To Build a Fire , and Edith Whartons The Journey reveal how man is

inherently evil. Though they argue the same point, they use very different stylistic

elements such as irony and point of view.

Mark Twain emphasizes on using satire throughout his essay The Lowest

Animal, but he uses different aspects of satire at certain times. For example, Twain

uses an absurdity with: this new and truer one to be named the Descent of Man from

the Higher Animals.(Twain). Twain is basically making fun of Darwins Theory of

evolution which is verbal irony. Humans believe that we are the most advanced animals

that have ever walked the Earth, but in Twains eyes it is the complete opposite. He

believes that humans are at the very bottom of the animal kingdom. Some examples are

that Man is the Cruel Animal and , man is incredibly foolish. Mark Twain also states

Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves.(Twain) Man is the

only animal to enslave another man and noth think twice about the feelings of the other

man. The prime example is the enslavement of the Africans. American farmers forced

blacks to work on plantations in horrendous conditions and no pay what so ever. The
 Wolsky 3

white farmers used their labor for their own benefits and took all the profit which is both

truly evil and selfish.

Throughout The Journey by Edith Wharton, a woman is faced with many

dilemmas and is tested to do the correct thing. Within the next hour she might find

herself on the platform of some strange station, alone with her husbands

body(Wharton). The wifes husband has just died on the train, on the way home.

Instead of telling an onboard service crew that her husband had just died, she was too

busy worrying what would happen when they discovered that her husband had died.

She was scared that they would just toss her out at the next stop in the middle of

nowhere. She should have notified someone about what happened and not have been

so selfish. Some people go to extreme measures to insure their own benefit. ... hold his

sheath knife nor throttle the animal. (London). The man that was stuck out in the frozen

tundra, which he should never been in the first place, is so desperate to keep warm that

he tries to kill his own dog. The poor creature has done nothing to deserve the evil

attempts of the man and luckily escapes with its life. The man had to stoop down to the

level of trying to kill an innocent animal in order to preserve his own life.

Many great writers depict Man to only care about themselves and to be evil,

people like Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, and Jack London. They all agree on the same

point but take very different stylistic approaches with their stories. Humans need to start

looking out ,not only for themselves, but for other people.
 Wolsky 3

Works Cited

Twain, Mark. The Lowest Animal. N.p.: n.p., 1896. Print.

London, Jack. To Build A Fire. N.p.: n.p., 1908. Print.

Wharton, Edith. A Journey. N.p.: n.p., 1899. Print.

Chopin, Kate. A Story of an Hour. N.p.: n.p., 1894. Print.

Bierce, Ambrose. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. N.p.: n.p., 1890. Print.

Neruda, Pablo. Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market. N.p.: n.p., 2007. Print.