Coexistence

By Luke Schmitz

We live on a planet that is filled with creatures of all shapes and sizes.  There are giant whales in the sea, small insects and everything in-between.  I think it is easy for people to forget that they are not the only creatures around and disregard the other creatures that inhabit the planet.  Because there are many people who are so removed from nature, those people get their opinions of nature based on many different advertisements, and not their own experiences.  Unfortunately, the different forms of media/advertisements give false perceptions about animals.

In the sixth chapter of “Communicating Nature,” Julia B. Corbett writes about how many advertisements we are exposed to on a daily basis.  She also explains how the environment is featured in many different advertisements and is used to attract products to people.  I feel that Julia includes this in her book to educate the reader so that you don’t fall for advertisement tricks.  She writes that it is an oxymoron for companies to use the environment in their advertisements, while they are not environmentally friendly at all.  I feel that the purpose of this chapter was almost like a warning to the reader to shop for products that are actually environmentally friendly and ignore the products that pretend to be.  Often times, advertisements are what give people certain perceptions of animals.

In the book, Dwellings and her essay “Deify the Wolf,” Linda Hogan explains how everything in nature is connected and has meaning.  However, she writes that humans have negative feelings towards certain animals, such as wolves.  This is similar to chapter seven of Communicating Nature because Julia writes about how people have preconceived opinions of different animals based on how they are “sold” to us.  People have had hatred towards wolves for a long time because they are perceived as fierce predators.  In fact, we are taught that wolves are bad from a young age in stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs.  Linda has a much different approach towards wolves than most people, and compares humans to descendants of wolves.  In regards to a wolf howl, Linda writes, “It stirs inside the body, taking us down from our world of logic, down the deeper lost regions of ourselves into a memory so ancient we have lose the name for it.”  I think Linda is trying to show that the wolf is a majestic creature and she compares them to humans to show people that the wolf is not a bad creature at all.  I personally think wolves are amazing creatures and it is so sad that humans have been so cruel to them in the past.  It is great to see people like Linda advocate for such a beautiful and intelligent predator.

Unfortunately, wolves are not the only animals that have been targeted by humans.  In Taiji, Japan, dolphins are captured and either sold or murdered for their meat.  The film, The Cove exposes the atrocities that are taking place in Taiji towards dolphins.  The film is directed by Louie Psihoyos and shows Ric O’Barry capture video footage of the dolphins being murdered.  I think that what makes this film so powerful is because it shows how many human characteristics dolphins have.  Ric explains a situation when he was holding a dolphin that committed “suicide” in his arms.  The dolphin closed its blowhole so that it couldn’t breathe.  Ric uses anthropomorphism by using the word suicide to make the dolphin appear more like a human.  

The common theme among many of these films and writings is that animals have very human-like qualities.  I think that they are especially given these qualities to show readers that these animals are living creatures that should be treated respectfully.  In the essay, Am I Blue by Alice Walker, she writes about a horse and gives an incredible amount of human characteristics to the horse.  Alice explains how Blue (her neighbors horse) was very “lonely” in his paddock.  Blue then gets a female horse to mate with and seems much happier.  Once his mate leaves, Alice writes, “If I had been born into slavery, and my partner had been sold or killed, my eyes would have looked like that.”  I think that this quote is extremely powerful because it truly depicts Blue as a human.  Blue is portrayed to have loved and lost, which are emotions that are generally associated with humans.  While reading this, it feels as if you are reading a romance drama about two people, which truly shows how similar and connected animals are with people because they can both feel similar emotions.   

The film, How I Became an Elephant, tells a story of a 14-year-old girl named Juliette West and how she embarked on a mission to save the South East Asian elephant.  I think this film was very inspirational because of how young Juliette is.  She is merely 14 years old, and many people would probably consider her just a child.  However, this child shows how much can be done as long as there is the willpower.  If one 14-year-old girl can make such a difference, then the viewers should be inspired to help make a difference as well.  According to a New York Times article titled, “Elephants to Retire From Ringling Brothers Stage,” the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey announced that they would no longer use elephants in their circus acts.  New York Times Reporter Richard Perez-Pena writes, “The debated reflect people’s unwillingness to accept animal treatment-from laboratories to farms to film sets to bullrings-that their grandparents might have taken for granted.”  The article shows how activists that are fighting for animal rights are achieving their goals of protecting animals.  Remember, all animals are living creatures sharing this planet with us.