Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel, "Remarkably Bright Creatures," weaves a poignant tale of grief, connection, and self-discovery through the unlikely lens of an aging giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. Set in the early 21st century, the novel subtly challenges traditional human assumptions about the cognitive capabilities of non-human species, specifically focusing on Marcellus's intelligence as a catalyst for questioning human exceptionalism. Van Pelt utilizes literary elements like detailed observation, internal monologue, and metaphor to reveal the depth of Marcellus's intellect and emotional intelligence, prompting us to reconsider our understanding of consciousness, interspecies relationships, and the nature of intelligence itself. The prevailing human perception of octopuses often positions them as alien and monstrous creatures, driven by basic instincts. Scientific literature, however, paints a vastly different picture. Sy Montgomery, a naturalist and author of "The Soul of an Octopus," observes that octopuses possess remarkable problem-solving skills, the ability to navigate mazes, and even exhibit playful behavior (Montgomery). These observations align …show more content…
He demonstrates remarkable problem-solving skills, particularly in his ability to escape his enclosure. He narrates, "This is how I do it...the gap is small." About the width of two or three human fingers...but I have no trouble shaping my body to pass through" (Van Pelt). This meticulous detail reveals his understanding of his physical capabilities and his ability to plan and execute a complex escape route. Such ingenuity aligns with real-life accounts of octopuses opening jars, escaping from aquariums, and even using tools (Harmon). By showcasing Marcellus's ability to manipulate his environment and overcome physical limitations, Van Pelt challenges the assumption that intelligence is solely defined by human-centric
Tragedy acts as an antidote to human fallibility; it also warns individuals of the dire consequences of follies in a way that comedy cannot. It accentuates how a character of high rank falls from grace due to his or her character flaw. More importantly, the downfall evokes pathos, which results in the viewers’ emotional cleansing and purging. In Richard Van Camp’s short story, “Mermaids”, the main character “Torchy” is a native Indian who struggle to find a goal in life. To cope with the loss of his brother and his traumatic life, he abuses alcohol and drugs.“Mermaids” is not considered as a tragedy since the main character does not fulfill a noble tragic hero, he does not go through peripeteia, and the ending of the story does not let the
Thomas’s self-appointed title of “biology watcher” seems, on the surface, unfitting for a man whose understanding of cellular interaction is so intimate. He is able to confer with nature and develop a profound connection with it; essentially, he is able to “touch” it. But the sense of touch, in Thomas’s mind, is not separate from the faculties of vision, hearing, smelling, or tasting; it encompasses all of them. The “watcher,” or for that matter, the “listener” or “taster,” is capable of becoming wholly immersed in his subject, no restrictions limiting the extent of his observations. It is for this reason that Thomas can expound the workings of an ant colony and delve beyond what is visible to the eye; he is capable of connecting with that colony on a variety of levels, part of a relationship that serves to inform and “edit” conceptions he holds about the workings of the human world.
In “Don’t anthropomorphize inky the octopus”, Jacob Brogan offer an answer to us—anthropomorphism. That is, human tend to interpret animals by “turning them into distorted mirrors of our own experience and expectation” (Don’t, 23,24). The escape of the octopus, Broman illustrates, is anthropomorphized by the human as “breaking out of animal aquarium”, “reminiscent of Finding Nemo”, “a magician like Houdini” for our own plights. We don’t want to know and care what exactly how octopus thinks and how he finds the way to escape; we focus on how to reflect our willingness on their behaviors. Instead of anthropomorphizing them in human terms, Brogan logically demonstrates, we should understand these creatures by their own cognition, their emotion, their complexity even if they are different than us in some
Cephalopods are known to be exceptionally intelligent by invertebrate standards and in some respects even rival “higher” vertebrates. These animals have many highly evolved sensory and processing organs that allow them to gain a greater understanding of their environment and their place within it. Due to their advanced structures, many of which are analogous to vertebrate structures, and abilities they have been widely studied. Their methods of learning have been of prime interest and many experiments have been conducted to determine the different ways in which octopuses can learn. From these experiments four main kinds of learning have been identified in octopuses: associative learning, special learning,
The film Beasts of the Southern Wild is a coming of age movie, told from the point of view of a six-year old progantist Hushpuppy. Hushpuppy is a six-year old girl living on the outskirts of Louisiana society, where HushPuppy learns to survive in an off the grid community called the Bathtub. Through the lenses and point of view of Hushpuppy, the audience is about to see the human experiences of Hushpuppy’s transition from dependence to independence. Through the use of adult figures, motifs, and overall ways Hushpuppy learn how to cope with the hand she is dealt. Hushpuppy is able to unfurl her story of how she learned how to subsist with the loss of her mother, illness and death of her father, and forced evacuation, all while learning how to
In the article “A change of heart about animals” author Jeremy Rifkin uses rhetorical appeals such as ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade humanity in a desperate attempt to at the very least have empathy for “our fellow creatures” on account of the numerous research done in pursuit of animal rights. Rifkin explains here that animals are more like us than we imagined, that we are not the only creatures that experience complex emotions, and that we are not the only ones who deserve empathy.
Read almost any book by Margaret Wise Brown, and you will start to see some overlapping trends. Readers know when they are reading a work by this famous author without seeing the cover or title page because her works have so many similarities. The use of multiple animals and nature frequently appear in her books and serve as common ideas in literature by Margaret Wise Brown.
In this example, two primates were placed behind either a transparent or an opaque screen. Between these screens was a banana and I learned how a primate reacted when approached with the option if he should go for the banana when put against a dominant primate. I was impressed that they didn’t engage in a brawl over the banana, but instead used thought in regard to hierarchy. This to me, without doubt, proves once more that primates are able to produce complex behaviors that relate to humans. Thinking like this insinuates that primates as well as creatures other than humans have the ability of using
This book presents the relationship between human and animal behaviors and the behavior that is now created by our modern day society. The mind has two main parts. There is the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is the better half, yet it is potentially threatening; therefore, the conscious mind is aware at all times. The unconscious mind influences your behavior in many ways. Pi experiences both of these minds. Pi is consciously planning his survival and how he was going to spend his food, so he didn’t run out. His conscious mind contributed to Pi surviving at sea. Consequently, when Pi`s father fed a goat to a tiger to prove a point, he was unaware that this event changed his personality brutally. He became more
The creature’s reflections over his own existence are penetrating and reach to the heart of the matter:”My person was hideous and my stature gigantic. What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come?
The short story “The Buffalo” by Clarice Lispector shows us some important things about animal anthropomorphism. Firstly, the attribution of human emotions to animals allows us to more easily empathize with them. Through this, we are able to create intimate bonds with our pets and other animals. Since language figures so heavily into our understanding of empathy, several researchers, such as Hockett and Tomasello, have spent years investigating animal communication and how it relates to human language. Anthropomorphism, while it causes problems such as the devalorization of animal emotions and misattribution, also affords us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves, through the reflection of our own emotions. In this sense, anthropomorphizing animals can be a very useful tool for us, just as it was for the woman in “The Buffalo.”
Piatigorsky, Z., Kozmik. 2004.Cubozoan jellyfish: an Evo/Devo model for eyes and other sensory systems. Int J Dev Biol 48: 719–729
Although gross medical advancements have allowed the human population to live longer and fuller lives without the threat of death from infectious diseases, it is apparent that we are now dealing with a different phenomenon that may be just as harmful to our health. The impact of psychological, social and environmental factors from our daily lives is having a drastic impression on the mental and physical wellbeing of our society. It has been shown in various studies that psychological and neurological factors influence the immune system and can have an effect on our health (Breedlove, Rosenzweig & Watson, 2010). As we allow various stressors, poisonous substances, unhealthy diets and lack of rest to overwhelm our existence, we are inevitably shortening our life span and killing our bodies.
really a place for someone like him and his mind rebelled. Lastly you can see
Tennessee Williams has a gift for character. Not many playwrights do, and even fewer possess the unique ability to craft a character as paradoxical and complex as Amanda Wingfield. In The Glass Menagerie, Amanda is a very difficult character to understand because of her psychological disposition. Williams realizes this and provides the reader with a character description in hopes of making the character more accessible to meticulous analysis.