The Large Ant Essay Example

way he did. Saw it,' I answered slowly, 'and somehow I knew that I must kill it. I didn't think or decide. I Just grabbed the iron and hit it. " (Fast 1 55) Even the narrator himself does not know why he killed the return, he Just did.

Subconsciously he decided that the thing to do is to kill it before he even had a chance to consciously think and decide. His decision was made for him by his basic human instincts and he really had no say in the matter what so ever. The narrator did not know what it was, he Just knew that it terrified him and to kill it. Were afraid? Hopper asked. 'l was scared to death. I still am to tell the truth. " (Fast 155) His fear of the creature appears to have triggered his brain to categorize the creature as a threat, which would explain why his instincts were rigged and he felt he had to kill it.

When we feel threatened we react to protect ourselves, we would not Just sit there and let ourselves be harmed if it can be helped, but the narrator seems to have had no reason to kill the creature. "That is why I am asking you why you killed it. You must have had a reason. Did it seem to attack you... Or make any sudden motion towards you? " (Fast 154) The narrator answers no to both of these questions yet he still felt the need to kill the creature. This is when Fitzgerald goes on to state the only season the narrator killed it was simply because

he is a human and it is his instinct to do so. He then opened the doors to one of the wall cupboards and there stood eight jars of formaldehyde and in each Jay a specimen like mine - and in each case mutilated by the violence of its death. " (Fast 155) It could not have been Just a random occurrence when eight others were killed by similar ways with people who also felt they had to kill the creatures, even though there was no threat to any of the people who killed them. "We don't look carefully at a thing that is horrible or repugnant to us. You can't look carefully through a screen of hatred. (Fast 155) It is just in our nature to resort to violence, and when we do not know what to do or when we become scared we stop thinking logically and we resort to trusting our basic instincts. Weapons and violence have become such a big part of the world today that we are constantly surrounded by it. "Look at yourself, Mr.. Morgan - a cultured and intelligent man, yet you cannot conceive of a mentality that does not include weapons as a prime necessity. Yet a weapon is an unusual thing, Mr.. Morgan. An instrument of murder.

We don't think that way because the weapon has become the symbol of the world we inhabit. " (Fast 157) Lieberman states it perfectly in that we have made weapons a major symbol in the world. This can be said to be due to our instincts to resort to violence. Going back to as far as we can trace

the weapon has been a key part in every society. The civilizations with the most powerful weapons and armies controlled the world. It has come too point where we feel we need to constantly protect ourselves and we assume there is going to be a threat. My didn't it use one of those weapons on me?...

Perhaps none of these are weapons. ' Lieberman added. " (Fast 156) We assume things we do not know or understand are a threat to use Just like the narrator assumed the creature's tools were weapons and that the creature itself was a threat to him, which is why we instinctively go on the defensive and resort to violence without giving it a second thought. Why did the narrator and eight other people all kill these giant ants without any provocation and without a second thought? The answer is simple; we as humans are violent in our nature to some degree.