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Jeanine Cruz

Ms.Osman

English 3P

13 March 2019

The Real Unreasoning Animal

LRA Prompt: What is Twain’s overall purpose in writing “The Lowest Animal” ? How effective

is his use of satire in achieving that purpose?

In the story “ The Lowest Animal” by Mark Twain, the author emphasizes the idea of

humans being irrational and unethical. In the story, Twain compares humans with animals to

show how irrational humans can be.

In the reading the author, Twain explains humans are cruel and unethical, unlike animals.

In the text, Twain says “Roosters keep harems but it is by consent of their concubines: therefore

no wrong is done Men keep harems, but it is by brute force” (Twain 182 ). By stating this Twain

is trying to show, humans unlike animals are conscious of their actions and have malicious

intentions while animals do not, making them the inferior species. Twain also states “Of all the

animals, man is the only one that is cruel He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of

doing it It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals ” (Twain 183 ). This also reinforces

the idea of humans being the inferior species due to their cruelty and irrationality. Overall, Twain

uses a variety of Satire like exaggeration and irony to emphasize the idea of humans being the

inferior species to animals due to their irrationality and unethicality. In Twain’s attempt to

emphasize the idea of human irrationality and unethicality, he uses many forms of satire such as
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exaggeration. The author uses exaggeration to accentuate the idea of humans being irrational,

unethical, immoral, etc. An example of exaggeration that is seen in the text is “ Indecency,

Vulgarity,obscenity-these are all strictly confined to man; he invented them” ( Twain 182). By

stating this Twain shows humans are the unreasoning animals and inferior species since vulgarity

and obscenity are only connected to humans and not animals.

To conclude, the author’s use of satire helps emphasize the idea that humans are

irrational and unethical which makes them the real unreasoning animal. Not only does Twain

express the idea that humans are the unreasoning animals but they are also the inferior species to

all animals.
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Work Cited:

​ oughton Mifflin Harcourt: California Collections Close

Twain, Mark. ​The Lowest Animal. H

Reader. Sacramento, California. Print . 177-186.