Do you agree with the ideas of Mark Twain or do you feel sympathy for human race?.
Human conditions are a complex product of psychological, moral, cultural, political, economical and social compulsion. Human responses in different conditions vary from each other. One cannot generalize the human behavior the way it has been done by Mark Twain. In our cosmopolitan world man is mature enough to discredit any comparison with animals.
Twain has not compared societies. His standard of comparison seems false as birds and animals do not form any organized society. Animals do not have any curiosity or will to evolve. The man possesses both curiosity and sprit of evolution. The evils of the man highlighted by Twain are unavoidable by-product of human evolution. Man, though a mortal creature possesses so many wonders in his person which are overlooked by Twain. In demonstration of human follies, Twain ignores the very fact that man is emblem of everlasting inner goodness, love, charity and generosity. Cruelty, greed, obscenity, immorality and lust of power are confined only to specific persons of history. Most of the time man is dominated by the will of love, honor and welfare. One cannot blame the whole human race for deeds of particular persons.
The comparisons drawn by Twain between man and animals are either unjust or inappropriate. The exaggerated brutality committed by Twain's pen is not only humiliating but disgusting also. A man of his genius should give vent to his frustrating feelings by some other just way. It is always easy to shout imprecation against humanity things and Twain does this same thing. Deeds of a hungry anaconda and a pleasure seeking earl do not prove that whole humanity is lust stricken. Anaconda eats one calf as his hunger demanded only one. In case of earl the approach is quite different.
Earl kills 72 buffaloes to satisfy his will of exhibiting power. The act of the earl is not justifiable on moral grounds but calling the whole humanity as specimen of earl is also not convincing.