blog # 15

It is very interesting how Abram portrays animals throughout these chapters. He uses strong auditory imagery to connect the reader with the sense of nature he is trying to portray. His purpose is to remind us of where we came from, and challenges us to revisit our "animal-selves", understanding their nature to help understand ours. He uses examples about nature that reflect the way we live out our daily lives. He emphasizes that too long we have sheltered ourselves from the nature that surrounds us and something that is apart of us. He shows our connectedness using certain characteristic that are usually thought to be human, and explaining how they are evident in animals as well. For example, the characteristic of having language he argues is expressed in animals too, only in a different manner. The language of animals is more of a body language, but it is still a form of communication that they understand. There is meaning behind each action, as there is meaning behind each word, and both help a certain goal to be met. He also uses the concept of intellect, and portrays the spider's ability to weave a web so precise that it is exactly how it needs to be in order to accomplish its task, and each time the web is destroyed, the spider is able to rebuild it the same way again. He talks about the ability to adapt, and how even humans in some cases are not prepared for certain circumstances and must quickly adapt to the changes. All that he describes is very interesting, especially his examples with birds. His goal is to remind us of our origin and to "own up to being an animals, a creature of the earth", something that very few people choose to do (3).