Characteristics of a Survivor
Fighting off a few million ants is not easy when they will eat you alive if you get in their way. In “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” Leiningen, originally a self-assured, courageous, and stern plantation owner, changes drastically after his deadly encounter with a caboodle of ants to become a boastful and yet still, courageous survivor.
At the beginning of the story, with the ants on the verge of invading his plantation, the district commissioner warned Leiningen that the ants are coming and his best bet is to leave his plantation but with him being stern, he refuses to leave. “‘Decent of you," he murmured, "paddling all this way just to give me the tip...why, even a herd of saurians couldn't drive me from this plantation of mine’” (Stephenson,
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481). Instead, he uses his wits to create obstacles in hope that he will be able to stop the ants. The first of these obstacles consisted of a ditch that went twelve feet across, filled with water. The second, a large ditch filled with petroleum. Even though Leiningen was so self-assured, as the ants come closer, they started to make it through his obstacles. He thought that “unless the ants were clever enough to build rafts. they had no hope of reaching the plantation” (Stephenson 482) but with there being “ten miles long, two miles wide--ants, nothing but ants” (Stephenson 481), the ants got through the water with ease. Not long after passing the water filled ditch, the ants were making their way through the petroleum filled ditch.
In retaliation, Leiningen’s men set fire the the petroleum to keep the ants from reaching the inner part of the plantation. But Leiningen was not as self-assured because “it was obvious...that this last resource meant only the postponement of defeat and death” (Stephenson 485). He knew the only way to save the rest of his men and his plantation is to run to the weir and flood his plantation. And with him being so courageous, he would not allow any of his mens to sacrifice themselves to run through the ants to flood the plantation. Before leaving, Leiningen told his men, “‘the moment I'm over the ditch, set fire to the petrol...Then all you have to do is wait here all snug and quiet till I'm back. Yes, I'm coming back, trust me’” (Stephenson 492). Then he ran to the weir and when there, “gripping the ant-hulled wheel…[he] turned and turned; slowly the dam lowered until it reached the bed of the river…[and] the water was overflowing the ditch…[Then] Leiningen let go the wheel. Now, for the first time, he realized he was coated from head to foot with a layer of ants” (Stephenson
494). Now that he had done his job, he has to get back to his men. But as he made his way back to the petroleum filled ditch, he realized the ditch was still ablaze. The only thing left to do is once again, use his courage and jump through the flames. But there was one thing standing in his way. “A stone in the path...the planter stumbled and collapsed [over it.] He tried to rise [but could not.] Then all at once he saw...the pampas stag. In six minutes--gnawed to the bones. God, he couldn't die like that! And something outside him seemed to drag him to his feet” (Stephenson 494). He made his way to the ring of fire that surrounded his plantation and his men and “at the moment he made that leap through the flames [and] lost consciousness for the first time in his life” (Stephenson 494). After his men dragged him to safety of his ranch and were caring for him, Leiningen awoke and told his men, “‘I told you I'd come back...even if I am a bit streamlined’” (Stephenson 495). In conclusion, because of his characteristics, he would be considered a survivor. If Leiningen had not been courageous enough to cross the millions of ants, he and his men would have either retreated to the safety on the other side of the river with the women and children or he would have sent another man to risk himself to flood the plantation. And if he hadn’t been self-assured and stern, he never would have made it back like he told his men he would be.
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