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Raymond Madu

Alex Soya

COM 1101

18th of April, 2017

Man as the Lowest Animal

Man is a member of the species Homo Sapiens or all the members of the species

collectively, without regard to sex. The statement above is the dictionary definition of the word

Man.In the essay: The Damned Human race, Mark Twain wrote about man being the lowest

animals even we have been told otherwise in our normal science classes and what not. I myself

am compelled to agree with the fact that man is indeed the lowest of all the animal, species.

It can be said that man has come a long way along the road of evolution, known to have

evolved from the ape and we have accomplished a lot more than our fellow primates and animals

in general but evolution seems to have also brought some cons as we are different in character

and behaviour compared to the ape. Man is the cruelest of all animals as hunting animals for

sport has now become a common trend in the society today. We kill rare animals to keep their

skins or skulls as prized possession and yet we complain about animals going extinct and start

looking for ways to prevent it even though we are the cause of the problem. This character or

behaviour cannot even be found in any of the primates who are considered closest to us in the

evolutionary trend not to talk of animals in general. Carnivores kill to survive and still give back

to the Herbivores in form of compost from their carcasses thus continuing the circle of life but in

the case of man its different.

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The evolution of man has also brought with it a vast hierarchy in which some people are

at the top- the leaders and rulers-, some at the middle-the working class/average-, and the

lowerclassmen- the poor-. Due to the establishment of this hierarchy, it has made man blind to

morals and ethics and compelling Man to be corrupt and wicked in other to get to the top even if

one has to commit acts of felony. In the animal Kingdom, the Lion has been branded the King

of the Jungle but this nickname is only due to his mane which distinguishes him from the other

big cats that is to say that their is no Kingdom in the animal kingdom. It is true that some are at

the bottom of the food chain and some are at the top but this is all due to natural selection but in

the end, all animals benefit from from this natural selection as the bigger animals die, their dead

bodies serve as compost that give the smaller animals nutrients even microorganism get their fair

share. In mans world, the poor are treated with disregard and allowed to die off and the rich

want to acquire more possession that they take the little that the poor have.

Also, man commits one of the biggest atrocities of all: War. A conflict carried on by

force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or

air. That is the dictionary meaning of war. Man is able to gather his companions around him in

organised groups and set out to face another group with nothing but murderous intent at heart for

the selfish reason of acquiring property or just to assert dominance leading to the bloodshed of

many innocents. The thing that is most painful is the fact that those who start the wars ( those in

power ), end up safe and well protected while the citizens whose homes, streets and towns get

turned into battlefields are slaughtered and in the end it is all for naught. Today, the fear of the

start of World War III is looming and the fate of the entire world lies in the decision one man

would make-one man- it is indeed scary. Animals are said to be violent but theyve lived in the
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same environment with each other for millions of years and yet they still live in harmony, it is

indeed a sad thing.

Although it may seem that all hope is lost and that mans downfall is around the corner,

we know we can come back from anything. Man may be cruel but he still has compassion, man

may be jealous but he still acknowledges, man has the ability to love. Their is no love greater

than a Womans love for her child as she nurtures her child bringing him/her up to adulthood still

in the care of his/her home. Most animals tend to abandon their offspring as soon as they are

weaned. This goes a long way to show us that we can still make a turning point by creating

awareness about the harm we are causing both to each other and to the environment and prove

the fact that man is the Lowest Animal to be wrong.