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Hailey Gaitan

Mrs. Kitt

English 3P

31 March 2017

Natural Qualities of Man

Many authors used stylistic elements to demonstrate and shape the topic they are trying to

disclose. Mark Twains story, The Lowest Animal emphasizes that human have several

negative traits. In The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin, it examines the feelings of a wife

after the death of her husband. A short story, To Build a Fire, Jack London paints a picture of

a man struggling to live while stuck in a blizzard. Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market, by Pablo

Neruda, is a poem about a dead tuna fish. Lastly, Edith Whartons short story, A Journey is

about a woman whos taking care of her sick husband and he dies. All of these stories sound like

they have a simple plot but, when the authors apply rhetorical strategies it builds a theme and

makes them more complex. These authors used absurdity, situational irony, and realism to

assemble their stories. Absurdity, is something that seems like it would never happen but it is

possible. Situational irony, is when the opposite than expected happens. Realism, describes life

without romantic subjectivity and idealism. It is very straight to the point and blunt. In this unit,

many authors used rhetorical strategies like satire, situational irony, and realism to convey that

man is inherently selfish and evil.

The author Mark Twain uses satire to display his message in the story The Lowest

Animal. The type of satire he uses is absurdity to present the fact that man is the lowest animal,

theyre evil, and theyre selfish. He claims, ... the difference between an earl and an anaconda
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is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isnt (Twain 2). This sounds ludicrous because

anacondas are seen as killers. Humans are seen as compassionate, caring and tend to portray their

sensitive feelings when many animals dont do the same. Twain uses this claim to prove his

point that man has a lot of negative qualities and are actually the lowest animal. Twain later goes

on to declare, It seemed to suggest that the anaconda was not descended from the earl. It also

seemed to suggest that the earl was descended from the anaconda (Twain 2). The idea that

humans could come from anaconda seems illogical but, really thinking about it, who really

knows? Mark Twain contradicts Darwins theories and proves his point by using preposterous

ideas that could be possible. They do not shine a positive light on mankind and bring an unusual

perspective not commonly seen. These ideas may seem irrational on the surface but the evidence

he uses really gets to their readers.

Situational irony is commonly used to engage readers because it brings a bit of a plot

twist to their stories. This can build the theme because the change that was not expected could

reveal their true idea. The author, Edith Wharton, uses situational irony to frame the concept that

man is inherently selfish and evil. The story, A Journey, is about a women taking care of her

dying husband. At one point they were on a train and he dies. She states, Good god! If it were

known that he was dead they would be put off the train at the next station (Wharton 97). This

is startling because you would foresee her to be more worried about the fact that her husband just

died and not about what is going to happen to her. The author uses this unanticipated feeling to

show that humans are selfish and evil. In an emergency the wife could only think about herself.

Another author, Kate Chopin, in her story The Story of an Hour also uses situational irony to

reveal this theme. In this story it describes the feelings of a woman who had unexpectedly lost
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her husband. Most would expect this overwhelming sense of sadness but she then the story says,

free, free, free (Chopin 2)! This shocked the audience because it exposes her selfish and crude

feelings. These authors used the surprise aspect of situational irony to explain the narcissistic and

malicious personalities of humans.

Realism is offers a very blunt and clear approach to building a theme. Jack London's, To

Build a Fire has this approach. In the story, the man is working vicariously to get through a

blizzard. At one point, it says, The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He

remembered the tale of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled into the

carcass (London 342). Jack London was explaining the harsh reality of what was circling

through the mans mind at this moment. He blatantly states that the man is willing to take

another life for his own warmth. This exhibits selfishness and evil and establishes the idea of

everyman for himself. In, Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market by Pablo Neruda, a realistic

path is also taken. The author starts off by using a lot of analogies to describe the strength of a

tuna fish and then he adds, Dead In front of me (Neruda 3). He flat out explained what he

saw and did not sugar coat his sights in anyway. This was used to model the theme that humans

are selfish and evil because the fish, that he sees as a strong, important animal, is killed for the

benefit of the people. The tuna is just layed out for everyone to see and the is no regard for its

feelings. London and Neruda both decide not to dance around their statements and plainly say it

so their message is clear.

Some authors feel the need to hint at their overall theme while others prefer to make it

distinct so there is no confusion. Rhetorical strategies are necessary to engage readers and these

authors used them to analyze the egotistical and hateful tendencies of mankind. There are many
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stylistic devices that can be used to make a story but in order for your story to be compelling to

the public it is important to find a style that can suit the authors writing. These stories should

make the readers think about their own selfish and evil actions and study how it affects their

everyday life.
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Work Cited

Chopin, Kate, and Kate Chopin. The story of an hour. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning,

2001. Print.

London, Jack. To build a fire. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2008. Print.

Neruda, Pablo, Ilan Stavans, Pablo Neruda, and Pablo Neruda. All the odes. New York:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013. Print.

Twain, Mark . ""The Lowest Animal"." (1962): n. pag. Web.

Wharton, Edith. N.p.: Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company, 1899. Print.