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Michael Clark
Professor Mcfaul
English 1C
9 January 2013
The Damned Human Race
Mankind is not the superior species. Man commonly believes that we, as a species, are the
superior known life form. On planet Earth, human beings reign supreme. Mark Twain believes that our
intelligence is our downfall and that animals, typically considered inferior, are actually superior because
they follow instinct instead of intelligent thought.
1) Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War (Twain 29). This is
a very direct statement which defines war as the worst kind of evil. Twain claims that only
man is capable of this act.
2) The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide
for their own living (Twain 30). This is both correct and incorrect. I feel it is significant
because Twain essentially describes having a job and being a slave. Using this logic, the
animal kingdom does in fact endorse and utilize slavery. There are fish that clean sharks

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teeth, bacteria that help produce certain chemicals in insects and other animals, female lions
that hunt for the male lions, and the list goes on.
3) Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning (Twain
31). By using the example of placing an assortment of animals together in a cage, and then
placing people of different religions and nationalities into a cage together, I feel that Twain
missed his mark. Unless I missed the point, he states that different animals are capable of
learning to live harmoniously, but men from different belief structures and cultures can not.
4) Nothing but the Frenchman (Twain 32). Because this point was mentioned in class, I
dont doubt that I will be the only one utilizing this quote, or at least one related to it. Even
by his own definition, Twain seems to accept that we are the bottommost species. He claims
that animals are incapable of racism, and yet he does not attempt to place himself any higher.
He displays an obvious racist streak with this statement and seems to accept his place at the
bottom.
The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses (Twain,
29). I recall seeing a documentary about chimpanzees in which a group of chimps invaded a different
groups territory. Group A attacked Group B for territory and for access to a fruit tree. Some of Group B
were injured, and at least one was killed, and eaten. As a deliberate and organized assault between two
separate groups of chimpanzees, regardless of how much DNA we share, this is a clear exception to
Twains claim that man is the only that does this.

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Man is the Animal that Blushes (Twain 29). With this one sentence, Twain manages to
describe mans behavior and why we do many of the things that we do. Because we have shame, and
animals do not, we alter our appearance, our behavior, and attempt to do the same to others through
manipulation or force. We wear clothes because we feel our naked bodies are indecent. We go to school
to get a job to make money to buy shelter and clothing and other items to make ourselves feel better and
feel more comfortable. We also do this to give ourselves a societal standpoint. We use our possessions
and wealth as a rank in the social structure, because we are ashamed of being inferior.
Man is flawed, not inferior. Although this was meant to be a humorous essay describing mans
flaws and our overall inferiority to the rest of the animal kingdom, I find that I actually agree with many
of Twains claims. Our bodies are mostly inferior to those of the higher animals Twain refers to. We
may be adaptable, but we are not as resilient as other species. Also, we have problems regarding our acts
of violence and cruelty, as well as inconsiderate and damaging effects on the environment and the
animal species impacted by our advances. However, without those advances, we would not be where we
are today. Our advances in technology, whether it be communication, entertainment, health, travel,
agricultural, or cultural, are growing at a more rapid pace now than ever before. We could not do this
without our higher brain functions, which I believe places us firmly at the top, regardless of our
shortcomings as compared to the other inhabitants of our planet.