Essay on "Conflict Between Human and Non-Human an Analysis of the Short Story the Elephants on Neptune"

Essay 5 pages (1792 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Conflict between Human and Non-human: An analysis of the short story "The Elephants on Neptune"

Ecological ethics:

Mike Resnick's short story "The Elephants on Neptune" and the Deep Ecology movement

Ecological ethics:

Mike Resnick's short story "The Elephants on Neptune" and the Deep Ecology movement

One of the difficulties inherent in writing about animals is that a writer is always forced to use anthropomorphic language to convey the animal's thought processes and relationship with the human world. There is a tendency to anthropomorphosize animals, to see them as lesser-developed humans or to idealize them as somehow more pure than humans, and more removed from the petty cares of human life. However, according to the principles of the Deep Ecology movement, seeing animals in human terms is not the answer. Rather, seeing human life in its appropriate context, in relation to the other species of the world is what is required for the planet to prosper. One of the principles of the Deep Ecology movement, as articulated in its platform is that "the well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: inherent worth; intrinsic value; inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes" (Naess & Sessions 2010).

The idealization of animals can be seen in the opening of Mike Resnick's short story "The Elephants on Neptune." "They were a remarkable race, the elephants on Neptune. They lived out their lives in peace and tranquility; they never argued among themselves, the old were always gentle with the young. When one was born, the entire herd gathered to celebrate. When one died, the entire herd mourned its passing. There were no animosities, no petty jealousies, no unresolved quarrels." Resnick's story does reflect some of the knowledge that humans possess about elephants as a species, namely the fact that elephants tend to live in herds, are intelligent, and show great affection for one another. These elephants, however, are highly idealized versions of the 'real thing' and reflect the ideals that humans have for themselves more than those that elephants would have for their own species. As they become more like humans, the elephants become more corrupt, and ultimately the story is revealed to be less about elephants and more about colonization of so-called primitive peoples.

At the beginning of the story, the elephant's idyll on the remote planet of Neptune is disturbed by the encroachment of the human species, as the elephants note the "ominous-looking weapons" carried by the men. The men speak of the "deep bond between men and elephants" but the elephants point out how their species was used to forcibly destroy others in war, and also how they were either hunted to near extinction for their ivory tusks, or put on display in spectacles like circuses. The humans are obviously disingenuous in their intentions, given their show of violent weaponry. The two species engage in dialogue, during which the elephants point out the great crimes that have been inflicted against their people to the humans, and the humans use the accomplishments of their species as proof of their inherent greatness. "We're a race that can boast of magnificent accomplishments: the internal combustion engine, splitting the atom, reaching the planets, curing cancer…what have you got to equal that?" asks one of the leader of the humans.

In response, the elephants say "We live our lives free of sin…We respect each other's beliefs, we don't harm our environment, and we have never made war on other elephants." Some of the men, particularly the Jewish man, a member of a persecuted race, sympathizes with the worldview of the elephants, although others do not. "You'd put that up against the heart transplant, the silicon chip, and the three-dimensional television screen?" asked the leader with just a touch of condescension. While by and large the elephants, because of their ability to communicate telepathically, speak as a collective unit, the men do not, and all the men have different feelings and emotions, as expressed to the elephants.

The twist of Resnick's story occurs when the elephants spontaneously evolve into humans, and the humans, because of the strange influence of the planet, evolve into elephants. At the end of the story, there is a complete role reversal as the elephants take on human characteristics (such as feeling violent and eating meat) and eventually shoot the humans in revenge for the crimes perpetrated upon the elephant species by humans. Gradually it becomes clear that the story is not about the relationship between humans and elephants, but about the relationship between humans and marginalized and colonized people across the globe.

On 'Neptune' (which is really a metaphor for earth), things evolve quickly. The elephants quickly evolve into beings that can breathe without spacesuits, as do the human beings. Although the way that this is depicted seems fantastical in the context of the story, the rate at which human beings have evolved is likewise impressive in a negative fashion. The earth's temperature has increased dramatically in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, and climbed particularly fast since the 1980s, when development became even more widespread across the globe. Humans have evolved from a self-sustaining life species, as manifest in native, tribal cultures, to a social species entirely dependent upon technology and mechanized processes for sustenance.

When representatives of the industrialized world came to colonize other peoples in the Americas and Africa, like the elephants and other animals, the native peoples were viewed as lesser species. However, individuals in these nations 'learned' very quickly from colonial forces. The major Western powers used the non-industrialized world's natural resources, just like they used animals. And Africa, Latin America, and East Asia are torn apart by strife to an even greater degree than the West, because members of those nations have used Western methods of warfare to engage in old and new tribal conflicts. Just as the elephants learn from the astronauts, members of colonized nations have learned from the West. Colonized peoples have also turned Western techniques of fighting and gaining power against the industrialized world, in the form of terrorist attacks, engaging in economic 'trade wars' by curtailing oil production to increase its price (much as the West once economically exploited its colonies) and even through environmental exploitation, which hurts the entire planet. China, in the wake of its rapid industrialization, has become one of the greatest polluters of the world, even more so than the West. However, it is difficult for nations such as the United States to morally chastise China, given the fact that it has profited so much from industrialization and environmental exploitation.

The memory of the oppression of elephants is what causes the elephants to turn against the humans, once they gain some semblance of power, just as so many formally colonized powers have turned against the West in anger. However, as potent a metaphor as this may be for the current situation regarding the developed and developing world, it should be noted that Resnick's story seems to be less about real human and animal relationships than human relationships exclusively. Even when animal species have been hurt by humans, they do not possess a human's sense of revenge. Although dogs as a species have been used very badly by humans in many instances, dogs still extend charity to humans by helping them, guiding the blind and serving as working dogs for the police and for sheep herders. Resnick's story is funny and powerful but it is not really revelatory of the human place in the natural environment, only of human's place in relationship to other humans.

This can also be seen in some of the comments made by members of the space crew, who are racist as well as species-ist. "The Indians -- that's the good Indians, the ones from India, not the bad Indians from America -- worshipped Ganesh, an elephant-headed god," says one of the leaders, expressing disdain for the native people of America, from whom the Europeans expropriated land. The oppression of religious groups, like the Jewish people, is also referred to over the course of the tale. Resnick does this to highlight the story's real meaning, namely the correspondence between elephants and formerly colonized peoples. The role reversal, on a 'macro' level suggests that the oppressed often become the oppressors, and the cycle of violence of the universe wears on, even though the planet is said to fondly remember how the elephants used to be, before their contact with humans.

The story indicates the difficulty of writing a story that commands sympathy for animals without reducing animals to metaphors, or rendering them in human-like terms. Unlike humans, species do not engage in revenge killings against other species, even though they might kill others to survive. The inability to be able to see animals as anything but lesser humans is more starkly illustrated "Yzur," a short story by Leopoldo Lugones, about an ape taught to speak because he is (in human… READ MORE

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