I tried but i don't get it...help?

Question

only answer if you've read huck finn.

i had to read this essay..which i thought would be easy but after i read through it. i didn't really understand it.
http://www.thedamnedhumanrace.com/

i'm supposed to write an essay on how Mark Twain feels about society in the damned human race and in Huck Finn.

i dont want u to write the essay for me but a lil help please?

Answer 1

This is a brilliant satirical essay which demonstrates how Twain believes that man has actually "de-evolved" instead of evolved from lower forms of animals. He proceeds in a methodical manner and provides examples of how he feels man (or society) is actually inferior to animals because 1. man only kills for sport...see the example of how men kill 72 buffalo for mainly "entertainment" rather than to eat. In contrast, an anaconda kills to eat. He also talks about how rich men hoard money and resources while animals use only what they need, and he talks about only men feel revenge and shame in contrast to animals.

In summary, Mark Twain demonstrates derision for society and exposes its hypocrisies by comparing man's actions to those of supposedly less "evolved" animal species. He gives several examples of man's cruelty to his fellow man, to those weaker than him, and also to animals and the environment.

I appreciate that you didn't want anyone to write the essay for you so I just provided an overview of how I saw it. If you go paragraph by paragraph, you will be able to point to a wealth of examples for your essay. Twain is very clear and straightforward in his approach.

Good luck. Hope you get an A!

Answer 2

Read it again. He is very clear in his words and thoughts. In fact, I think his words couldn't be clearer. I love this paragraph:

"In the course of my experiments I convinced myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals."

Maybe you should read it more slowly this time. Do you have it printed out? If you do, take a pencil or highlighter and mark the phrases, sentences or paragraphs that mean something to you.

Although Mark Twain is best known for his humorous works, it is his darker side, shown in this essay, that I believe will have its biggest impact over time.

Twain is saying he believes that man is not the superior species that we would like to believe. There is always greed, immorality, fighting, and hunting for fun, not out of necessity.

He goes on:

"Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing; they are not ashamed. Man, with his soiled mind, covers himself. He will not even enter a drawing room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion. Man is The Animal that Laughs. But so does the monkey, as Mr. Darwin pointed out; and so does the Australian bird that is called the laughing jackass. No! Man is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does itor has occasion to."

Good luck with your assignment. Go back and read it now. See what you come up with.