Mark Twain's The Lowest Animal

A detailed Summary of Mark Twain's The Lowest Animal

Is man the only true patriot or do animals too have this sense of pride that sets them apart from other realms of their own species? Mark Twain seems to think, based on his essay "The Lowest Animal", that "man is the only patriot" and that he will kill his own kind only too later "wash the blood off of his hands" (176). However, man, contrary to Twain's beliefs, is not the only patriot of the animal kingdom.

It is true that man does "set himself apart in his own country, with his own flag, and sneers at other nations", but in a similar way so do some animals. They may not have their own flag and country, but they do have territories and followers that sneer at other groups. Like Americans going to war to defend their "interests" so do the red ants (aristhisis) of northern Africa.

The wars of man have been studied and well known since the begging of time. Man would go to battle over simple, seemingly unimportant things for centuries.

Sometimes a leader stating that the battle was in the nation's "best interest" rationalizes these wars. The north African red ants are similar to man in this respect. Although it has not been studied as long, much has been learned from this small creature. National Geographic Television states that these "red ants viciously attack each other for reasons as trivial as an ant from another mound crossing its path in the daily gathering." The show further informs the viewer that these "army ants" always go and see the queen ant before any action is taken.

Following a war amongst men they generally ignore the loss of life and either "chalk it up" to a win or a loss. Twain thinks of this as man "washing the blood off his hands" to work toward "the universal brotherhood of man" (176). The ants also seem to follow this so-called mortal way of thinking. After a battle, win or loss, the ants see the losses not as deaths of their own kind, but rather causalities of war tha

Some common words found in the essay are:
Geographic Television, Lowest Animal, Ant Trust, army ants, red ants, Mark Twain, army ants protect, ants protect, ants follow, blood hands, north african, scout ants, win loss, queen ant, own flag,

Approximate Word count = 658
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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