Stephen Gould Nonmoral Nature

If G-d is benevolent and loving, why did He create cruelty and suffering in the animal world? In his essay “Nonmoral Nature,” Stephen Gould attempts to answer that question by examining the life of the parasitic ichneumon wasp. The ichneumon wasp is a creature of controversy, as its entire way of life is dependent on its ability of parasitize and eat other insects. Though many religious figures interpret this lifestyle as immoral, scientists argue that humans cannot apply the concept of morality to the wasps, as their motive for killing is based purely on securing the future of the species. To effectively present the differing views, Gould analyzes the wasps through each perspective. The dichotomy between the religious perspective and the scientific

The insect keeps the meat fresh by not immediately killing its prey. Instead, it cuts carefully around body parts integral to life, first eating the ones least necessary to survival and ending with vital ones. Gould likens this process to that of drawing and quartering; an antiquated execution procedure practiced by humans, writing, “As the king’s executioner drew out and burned his client’s entrails, so does the ichneumon larvae eat fat bodies and digestive organs first… preserving intact the essential heart and central nervous system” (Gould 2). Gould refers to the human victim as a “client,” a word which connotes partnership and consent, making it seem as though the person in question agreed to their own death. As Gould extends the executioner metaphor to the wasp through his use of analogy, one is lead to believe that the victim of the wasp willingly consents to his death as well. Furthermore, the grisly process detailed in the passage seems quite ordinary, as the reader is desensitized to the violent actions of the wasp through Gould’s cold, clinical word choice, or lack thereof. The stark contrast between the wasp’s brutal actions and the lack of descriptive language denys one an opportunity to fully comprehend the agonizing death of the insect’s victim. This portrayal of the wasp plays directly into the religious perspective by depicting it as an insensitive being with a shocking lack of compassion for its victim. As morality is defined by the ability the determine right from wrong, the wasp appears to be totally immoral as it mercilessly murders another creature for its own