The Modern Hunter Gatherer Pollan Analysis

In his article The Modern Hunter-Gatherer, Michael Pollan recounts the events that took place during his first hunting trip. Both during and after the hunt, Pollan struggles with an array of emotions that he conveys directly with his audience. From this struggle, a moral complication is formed regarding the direct relationship of death between humans and animals. By not giving a direct answer regarding the question he introduces of whether animals and humans experience death in the same way, Pollan leaves his text open to interpretation which ultimately forces his audience to view hunting through a more challenging, introspective lens.

From the very beginning, Pollan makes it clear that this is his very first experience hunting, and it is

“Exactly why we would strive so hard to distance ourselves ` from our animality is a large question, but surely the human fear of death figures in the answer” (6). From this quote, Pollan conveys the idea that we as humans believe we are superior to animals in all aspects of our lives and deaths. Humans are not only the top of the food chain in most cases, but when it comes time to experience death, we jump to an unprovable conclusion that we experience death in a different and unique way. However, as humans we must justify the superiority of human death, otherwise the death of an animal by human hands would make that individual hunter a murderer. Pollan references the quote anticipating that most of his audience feels the same way, but he also references it because it is unlikely that a majority of his readers have actually given a deeper consideration to this thought. By highlighting this uncertainty it leaves his audience no choice, for a moment, to face this reality that mankind has formed. In his article Pollan guides his readers down the path of uncertainty by allowing his readers a glimpse into his personal convictions. For example, the comparison he forms between “stumbling upon some strangers pornography” (6) and the “trophy portrait”(6) of him posing in front of the slaughtered boar shows the disgust he felt after having time to reflect. The

“In this was one of the signal virtues of hunting: it puts the large questions about who we and the animals are, and the nature of our respective deaths, squarely before the hunter, and while I’m sure there are many hunters who manage to avoid their gaze, that must take some doing” (6). This quote is ultimately Pollan’s conclusion after his reflection on disgust and death. Specifically, the phrase “large questions” is hard to read without wanting to further investigate. The audience is left wondering that if there are such large questions, why Pollan would not attempt to go about answering them, but instead continue with the remainder of his story. After such a temporary reflection, the rest of his hunting narrative loses most of its excitement because of the magnitude of his claim. He does attempt to reflect on the issue, but the brief way he does is also extremely similar to the way many hunters briefly think of the complications of killing an animal, and continue about their hunting outing without giving such ideas a second thought. If Pollan’s goal of this article was to engage his audience with this then he definitely succeeds, but if his goal was to frustrate his audience than he succeeds at that as well. By leaving the argument he presents up to interpretation he leaves a lasting impression on his audience. The frustrating and confusing issue that results from this