Oh, the Humanity An Analysis of Characteristics by Species in The Trial of an Ox and “The Ant, or Emmet” - Literature Essay Samples

How can we define humanity? The word â€Å"inhuman† is used to describe cruel and brutal actions. Thusly, a human’s perspective would dictate that humanity should be interpreted as the opposite, and entail dignity and goodness but it is important to consider how humanity is defined through the lens of the natural world. The works The Trial of an ox for killing a man : with the examination of the witnesses before Judge Lion, at Quadruped Court, near Beast Park (henceforth referred to as The Trial of an Ox) and Isaac Watts’ â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet† explore humanity in contrast with animality through interactions between humans and animals. In The Trial of an Ox, a man inflicts such cruelty on an ox he owns that an animal tribunal rules that the ox was driven to kill his tormentor out of madness. This work examines the motives and morals of humans and animals from an animal perspective, whereas Isaac Watts’ â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet† takes a human point of view to examine the minuscule world of ants as an example for human behaviour. Humanity is defined in these two works through an exploration of violence, ignorance, and free will. The use of violence and propensity for ignorance by humans differs slightly in each narrative, with direct cruelty and lack of sensitivity featured in the former and indirect murder and wilful ignorance in the latter. What unites these two works and truly defines humanity is that humans are capable of choosing the way that they behave and are not driven by instinct. Violence and brutality is a central theme of The Trial of an Ox. The Ox is on trial â€Å"for having gored his Dri ver in such a brutal manner† (6). This is met with outrage from the animal community, but is not the gravest act of atrocity committed according to the animals at the trial. It is revealed that, in truth, the Ox was abused, â€Å"pricked and beaten† by the driver he killed (17). The Bee testifies that the Ox had no intent to gore his driver, but â€Å"had lost his senses, and therefore could not be held accountable for his actions† (12). Ultimately, the trial finds the Ox guilty not of murder but manslaughter, which asserts the involuntary nature of the action. As revealed through the verdict, in the animal world it is impossible for the Ox to have made the conscious decision to kill the drover. Furthermore, the animals are held to a standard of law if they harm another, whereas humans can choose to be cruel to animals and undergo no repercussions. In Watts’ poem, humans still enact violence towards animals, asâ€Å" We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies† (4). â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet† treats violence by humans differently than The Trial of an Ox. While humans are still tormentors of ants, they do so quickly and with ignorance, trampling them â€Å"Without our regard or concern† (line 3). This act of brutality, while committed flippantly, shows a conscious choice to commit violence as humanity has knowledge of their impact on ants but chooses to continue killing them. Ants, in any case, cannot harm their larger aggressors, so this brutality again enforces the same power dynamic as that of the ox and the drover: man is allowed to cause harm, but reciprocity of this act is not allowed. In both works, humankind is portrayed as a conscious aggressor towards nature, whereas animals are portrayed (be it by law and consequence or by weakness) as incapable of inflicting suffering unto humans. This capability to mistreat nature without consequence is shown in these two works to be unique to humans. In â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet†, h umans are portrayed as complex and capable of deep thought, but having a blatant disregard for nature and animal life. Revisiting the earlier quote from Watts’ poem, we step on ants â€Å"Without our regard or concern† (3). Watts acknowledges that humans are â€Å"wise†(9) and have the knowledge of ants and the fact that that we kill them, but we continue to do so and do not feel burdened. Watts continues that, should humans put aside their ignorance of ants, there are â€Å"Some lessons of wisdom† to be found in the way in which ants â€Å"manage their work† (6, 10). Humans, who are apt to â€Å"trifle†, do not have the same sensibilities as the tiny ant, but what makes them human is their ability and privilege not to notice the intricacies of animal life and nature. The Trial of an Ox further reinforces the notion that humanity is defined by its ignorance to its impact on animals. After the ox is tormented by his drover, the other animals lament his lack of sensitivity towards animals. States the Tiger, â€Å"Tis amazing that humans should complain of cruelty of animals, when their own minds are productive of scenes of such inhumanity† (14-15). Humans, while they believe themselves to be more morally sound than animals, are not capable of understanding the negative impact they cause. While in a different sense, in The Trial of an Ox humans are just as ignorant to the suffering of animals as in â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet†, and this lack of sympathy and understanding towards nature is a defining trait that sets humans apart. The most defining characteristic of humanity in these two works is that humans have agency and intent, whereas animals lack these in some capacity. In â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet†, the humanity is defined by having the choice between frivolity and pious work. Watts knows that he must choose the direction of his life, pining for good faith in his decision: â€Å"Let me think what shall serve me† (20). Though there is the possibility that he can make the choice between the human propensity to â€Å"trifle away† or to â€Å"read in good books, and believe, and obey†, the ant does not have this choice (18,22). Thus, the definition of humanity is the option to choose whether or not to educate oneself and devote oneself to religion, knowledge, and godliness. In this work, ants are instinctive and do only what they need to live. The human, possessing possibilities of either righteous or slothful behaviour, acts as a foil for the ant who has no other option than to wo rk diligently to survive. The animals in The Trial of an Ox act to further contrast humankind through their system of choice and accountability. While in this work, animals are seen to converse and negotiate, they are ultimately bestowed with less agency than their human counterparts. Animal decisions, while allowed, are filtered through the complicated lens of the court system. In order to even consider the punishment of the Ox, a thorough trial presents itself as a barrier to choice for the animals. According to The Trial of an Ox, while animals are capable of violence, what separates humans from animals is their capability for violence with intent. The ultimate judgement, which states that the Ox was â€Å"driven to desparation by the cruel treatment†, takes the agency away from animals humans can commit grave actions with intent, but animals can only commit impactful actions not by choice, but under the influence of madness (17). The two works, though differing in the depth of dialogue shown, both show an uninhibited possibility of choice and agency for humans, but a fundamental lack thereof for animals. Revisiting the earlier question, humanity can be defined by what it is and what it is not. Through The Trial of an Ox, humans are characterized through their capability for active violence without consequence and their ignorance towards the ways in which they harm animals. In â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet†, humans have knowledge of their violence, but choose wilful ignorance. The uniting characteristic of these two definitions of humanity is that humans are not bound to instinct, duty, or natural law: humans have pure freedom of choice in their actions. Works Cited The Trial of an ox for killing a man : with the examination of the witnesses before Judge Lion, at Quadruped Court, near Beast Park. Banbury, 1835. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/trialofoxforkill00banbiala. Watts, Isaac. â€Å"The Ant, or Emmet†. From Instruction to Delight: An Anthology of Children’s Literature to 1850, edited by Patricia Demers, Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 94-95.

A Good Man Is Hard For Find By Flannery O Connor s ``...

â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† â€Å"The Necklace† In today s society we tend to see people live above their means. The reason why I may be picked or even chose. In the short story by author Guy De Maupassant, â€Å"The Necklace† and the story â€Å"Good Man Is Hard to Find† by Flannery O Connor is because both stories have many similarities that we can say that they are combined. The ladies show that they see themselves as important in these stories. These ladies are more concerned of their appearance and impressions on other people. These ladies refuse to admit that they are wrong on their decisions. These ladies also suffer from pride in both stories. It shows that the grandmother that s in the story â€Å"Good Man Is Hard To Find† to find that the grandmothers pride was manifested. The evidence shows that the grandmother believes herself to be better than others. The grandmother wants everyone to realize she’s a lady at all means. She even consider herself better than her grandchildren in also better than everyone else. In the beginning of the story it shows that the grandmother dresses in her sunday clothes for a family road trip, In case of an accident. She wanted people to see if she was hurt in an accident that they will see herself as lady. (In the story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†, the grandmother is described on page 1, paragraph 12, wearing â€Å"a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dressShow MoreRelatedA Proposal1240 Words   |  5 PagesSeiter 1 Allison Seiter Introduction to Literature Brian Leingang April 1, 2013 A Proposal: A Good Man is Hard to Find In 1953, the short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† was published in the anthology Modern Writing I by Avon Publications. Around the year 1955, a collection of short stories by Flannery O’Connor became published. The themes of these stories range from baptism to serial killers and then to human greed and exploration. For theRead MoreGuy De Maupassant s `` The Necklace `` And The Story `` Good Man Is Hard901 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† â€Å"The Necklace† In today s society we tend to see people live above their means. The reason why I may be picked or even chose. In the short story by author Guy De Maupassant, â€Å"The Necklace† and the story â€Å"Good Man Is Hard to Find† by Flannery O Connor is because both stories have many similarities that we can say that they are combined but different tragedies. The ladies show that they see themselves as important in these stories. These ladies are more concerned aboutRead MoreAn Analysis Of Flannery O Connor s A Good Man1425 Words   |  6 PagesBakane Franca Dr. Lorna Wiedmann English 202-025 December 12, 2014 The Devious Grandmother Have you ever noticed that, many individuals never awaken to reality unless they are exposed to violence? In Flannery O’Connor’s short story â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† his main character, the grandmother is a master manipulator. In the story, a family is destroyed not only because of accidents caused by the grandmother, but also because the grandmother is inconsiderate and self-centered; they are all killedRead MoreA Good Man Is Hard For Find By Flannery O Connor1837 Words   |  8 Pages In the short story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard To Find† Flannery O Connor uses the grandmother as a main character. Baileys mother in this story views herself as a truthful, wise and righteous lady throughout. She uses her manipulation, lies, and persuasiveness to her advantage but soon the reader learns how honest those views are. She quickly reveals herself as a different person when those traits she usually uses to get what she wants fails her. She can easily persuade someone to get her way, but how

Assessment of Environmentalist Approaches to Energy

Question: Describe about the Assessment of Environmentalist Approaches to Energy. Answer: Introduction: In the contemporary era of growth as well as economic development, it is evident that human kind is going to face a greater crisis regarding the energy resource in the next century. As the human population of the world is increasing in a geometric progression, it is being assumed that the world population will be double of the current 7 billion by mid-century. This scenario will evidently augment the usage of energy as well as its resource. In this context, various environmentalists are emphasizing mostly on two approaches to deter this crisis. The approaches include moving to sustainable energy sources while maintaining market economy and reducing the usage of non-renewable source by reduced energy use. The article focuses on assessing both of the approaches regarding energy usage along with indicating most effective approach for the humankind. Discussion: It is evident that energy is one of the most imperative necessities of humankind in the current advanced world. It can be considered as the key driver of economic development, which is the key tool of sharing prosperity in to the society and thereby reducing poverty. In addition to that, social development such as health and education is also highly depended on the access of energy. Globalization has enabled the humankind to access most of the resources for generating energy, albeit the resource endowments immensely varies from country to country as do the cost of energy supply (Knopf, Nahmmacher Schmid, 2015). Due to this particular scarcity of energy resources the world experiences a scale of variation in the domestic market, regional trade and collaboration prospect as well as infrastructure development prospect. It has been observed that the potential energy supply cost is immensely low in the highly developed nation. Figure 1: Energy dependence of the countries (Source: Edenhofer et al., 2013) It has been identified by various extensive studies that the developing countries are continuously experiencing a pressing concern regarding the achievement of reliable power supply. It can be observed from the latest report that the majority of the developing countries faced an exceeding demand of base-load electricity in comparison with the supply. The energy deficit has been noted to be around 7% in all of the developing geographic regions (Hinrichs-Rahlwes, 2013). The power deficit is affecting these countries to such an extent that it causes regular brownouts as well as blackouts and thereby huge amount of economic losses. In this context, it can be seen that majority of the Sub-Saharan African countries are forced to pay a high cost of electricity, which thereby reduces the affordability and basic energy needs of the general population. Figure 2: Energy consumption of the countries (Source: Podobnik, 2015) In order to eliminate these imperative crises such as poverty of energy as well as energy service delivery crisis, the environmentalists have considered undertaking the most sustainable approach to energy so that the entire globe can be prosperous without any hindrance. The majority of the environmentalists are inclined towards the usage of sustainable sources of energy, which will evidently decrease the importance of non-renewable energy sources. The advancement of technology has evidently increased the applicability of this policy of energy generation from renewable sources (del Ro Cerd, 2014). According to the traditional definition, the renewable energy refers to the energy, which is generated from the renewable resources that can be replenished within the human time scale. These resources are waves, sunlight, tides, wind, geothermal heat as well as rain. It is common knowledge in the current time that renewable energy sources are capable of decreasing the dependence on the fossils fuels. Therefore, it can also be assumed that the renewable sources can limit the environmental impact caused by the conventional energy generators. In this aspect, it has been noticed that the majority of the effectiveness of the global economy is evolving around the energy efficiency as well as sustainability. Therefore, most of the political decision makers are greatly considering the approach to use the renewable energy. Despite the strong support for the usage of renewable energy sources, it can be identified that the cost of the energy generation, as well as supply, is quite high. The high cost always has been a key factor that limited the implementation of renewable energy practices (Cerd del Ro, 2015). The major concerns that have been identified are the implementation of highly expensive technologies as well as costly operation and maintenance pro cess. The major factors considered as integral part of the energy generation processes are scalability, commercialization, substitutability, material input requirements, intermittency, water, regulation of receding horizons as well as energy return on investment and energy density. The renewable sources must have the capability to supply a certain amount of energy within a specific period. In order to switch from conventional energy sources to the renewable energy sources, a huge altercation in the infrastructure will be needed. Thus, it can be easily assumed that the renewable energy cannot be used as a substitute for the conventional energy source within a short notice. The renewable energy sources are considered as the low-density carriers of energy (Lopez-Pena, Perez-Arriaga Linares, 2012). Therefore, the renewable energy sources will need a higher amount of units in comparison to the conventional sources of energy. Considering these factors the social scientists have been able to ide ntify several critical barriers that would be a major factor for the efficiency of renewable sources. In order to compete against the conventional means of energy generation, the renewable energy sources must overcome a couple of most important barriers which are lacking economic scale as well as undeveloped infrastructure. Being the most expensive means of energy generation process the renewable energy generally requires a large amount of fund to develop the primary investments (Fagiani, Barqun Hakvoort, 2013). It has been observed that the early years of renewable energy generation consists of an increasing investment series. These investments have major aspects, which are described below: Prospecting: In order to initiate the renewable energy generation process the authority must unearth the most acceptable sites. In this context, the sites must be with good resources and lines of transmission. Permitting: The conventional energy generation process consists of several issues, which are quite common and the review system is quite straight forward. Moreover, the renewable sources produce new types of issues that demand innovative review system (Cho Kim, 2015). Marketing: As the conventional energy is highly available in the market and the general population is quite familiar with the usage of energy, the authority has to convince the citizens to switch their energy type from scratch. Installation, maintenance, and operation: In the context of implementing the renewable source, the authority must employ a highly trained workforce in order to install, maintain as well as operate the technological aspect of the renewable energy process (Amigues, Le Kama Moreaux, 2015). Despite these crucial concerns, it can also be identified that the mass production of the energy technologies can be highly effective for reducing the cost of the renewable energy process. In this context, it has been observed that price of the photovoltaic has been decreased up to 20 25 percent in the last two decades. Moreover, it is assumed by the professionals that it can be reduced up to further 20% with the increase of production. In addition to that, various studies have indicated that energy efficiency policies undertaken by European countries have effectively reduced the cost of the renewable energy (Shaddel Shokouhian, 2014). This crucial example further raises the debates to the approaches to use of conventional energy source and renewable source. It presents the evidence that the renewable energy has the potential to compete with the conventional energy sources in terms of price and effectiveness. The major advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy have been depi cted in the following table. Type of energy Energy Source Advantages Disadvantages Solar The sunlight is turned into electricity by solar panel. The energy supply is potentially infinite. The electric supply can be owned by single dwelling. The solar panels are highly expensive in terms of manufacturing and implementation. Wind The wind is converted into electricity by wind turbines. The energy supply is potentially infinite The single wind turbines can create energy from a single unit. The wind turbines are highly expensive in terms of manufacturing and implementation. Moreover, it is objected due to the spoiling of countryside. Tidal The tide movement is converted by turbines. The energy supply is potentially infinite. The technology can effectively prevent the flooding. The barrage is very expensive in terms of construction. Moreover, it has an environmentalist concern as it rumored to be harmful to underwater biodiversity. Wave The wave movement turned into electricity by driving turbine. The operation can be only implemented through a small local operation. The manufacturing cost is extreme and often opposed by the environmentalists. Geothermal The natural heat of earth can turn the cold water into a hot stream, which is converted into electricity by power turbines. The energy supply is potentially infinite. It is only applicable in the volcanic region, and the plant can be redundant in future. Hydroelectric Power The water movement in various dams, lakes, and rivers is transformed into electricity. Besides the energy plant, it can be used as water reserves as well. The development cost is quite high. It can cause flooding and adverse impact on local hydrology. Biomass Organic material can be burned for the energy generation. The biomass resources are cheap and available. It generates a high amount of pollutants and greenhouse gas. Wood Felled trees can be burned to produce heat and light. It is highly cheap and available. It generates a high amount of pollutants and greenhouse gas. Table 1: Assessment of renewable resources (Source: Wilson, Wood Garside, 2012) As per the data provided by U.S Energy Information Administration, it can be derived that it is likely impossible to replenish the non renewable energy sources within a short period. The non-renewable resources include several nuclear elements such as plutonium, radium, uranium; coal, natural gas as well as oil. Numerous scholars consider the non-renewable source as the most effective approach to energy generation as the resources is immensely abundant (Chu Majumdar, 2012). On the contrary, several environmentalists have been able to deduce that current rate of exploration of the natural resources will evidently create a crisis within the next century. However, the current studies on the energy sources and their impacts have been able to reveal several crucial disadvantages, which are most damaging for the humankind. These problems are environment contamination, damaging of bio-diversity as well as crop loss. In order to avoid these severe consequences of conventional energy use, the environmentalists have proposed another major approach. Numerous nations are effectively following this approach as it presents a flexible stand while concerning the use of conventional resources for energy generation (Hinrichs-Rahlwes, 2013). However, it is also openly acknowledged by every nation that the non-renewable resources are highly unsustainable while considering long term prospect. It has also been discovered by an extensive study that continuous use of the conventional resource will present a markedly detrimental effect on the environment in future. Although the countries in all over the world have mutually taken a crucial stand to combat the environmental deterioration, the approved measures are insufficient. The current gravity of the situation has reached a certain extent that the global warming protocols can be considered a futile effort. In this context, another major concern is climate change, which is proved to be gaining major upper hand constantly (Silva, Soares Afonso, 2013). Thus, the environmentalists suggest a complete revamping of the socio-economic structure so that the energy consumption can be limited. However, considering all of the above aspects it can be noticeably determined that the conventional use of non-renewable energy cannot be limited, as it will require a high control, strenuous effort as well as tremendous goodwill. In the current era of growth and development, the developing countries cannot survive the competition without necessary access to energy. They will need a high amount of energy in education, health, production as well as construction fields. In addition to that, the emerging political power in the world has created a scenario where the energy resource can be considered as the major tool of power definition (Kurbatova Khlyap, 2015). In this context, it is evident that the approach of drastic change in society will not be entertained various nation, and thus it lacks the practicality. It can also be considered that the limitation of energy use is not a relevant way for them. In support of the argument, it can also be stated that the natural resources will not be replenished by the limited use of non-renewable sources. Therefore, the world must stop consuming non-renewable resources and depend on the renewable sources (Mohammed et al., 2013). As the renewable sources have the capabilit y to supply the energy for a long time, it has the potential to substitute the use conventional sources. Conclusion: The above-described article successfully addressed the major approaches of energy uses, which are the use of sustainable resources at the same time maintaining the national economy and reshaping the society to limit the use of conventional resources for energy generation drastically. The article effectively assessed the approaches in terms of cost as well as efficiency. It has been identified by the discussion that although the renewable sources of energy has a positive advantage of green energy. At the same time, the use of non-renewable sources cannot be continued for a long run. Moreover, the non-renewable resources are having a highly damaging effect on the environment. 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