Gupta 0
Sushant Gupta
M. Arandia
Phil-1302-Section Number
Oct 18, 2018
Humanity Vs. Inhumanity: Reflection of How and How Not to Love Mankind
We live in a world where people are spending more money on killing the lives on this planet than finding a life in other planets. This situation shows how prevalent is compassion and love in our society, and where humanity is heading. Theodore Dalrymple "How and How Not to Love Mankind" is a critical appraisal of the necessity of humanity and compassion in our society. In this article, the author points out the importance of compassion in the society by using two parallel characters: Karl Marx and Ivan Turgenev, who had a similar upbringing and were pursuing the same career and also facing similar circumstances. In spite of having to face similar life predicaments, they had different perceptions and opinions which displays the diversity in the way they lived their life.
The contrast in life led by Karl Marx and Turgenev shows us how two human beings can have different stands to humanity and the welfare to mankind. Dalrymple uses the article ‘Mumu' by Turgenev to show his respect for thoughts and feelings of individuals, and in contrast, he uses Marx's Communist Manifesto to show Karl Marx's hatred and lack of interest in basic humanity.
In the work by Turgenev, the author does not blame one race or class for the situation that one person has to go through. He believes that everyone could make a ‘moral choice' by themselves (Dalrymple). "Mumu" is not a story of the emotional state of an individual but is the story of how compassion has been lost in our society. When the selfish landowner asks to kill the dog "Mumu" because the dog did not like her as much as it liked Gerasism; she asks him to be taken away and killed in the later phase. This story shows how an individual could create hatred when they feel like they are not treated as importantly as they need to be treated. The landowner feels like she should be loved by everyone, even though she is not ready to invest love and respect everyone equally and patiently to get love back. This shows us how the human race can go selfish to get praised and loved. The selfishness of the landowner leads to Gerasism killing the dog. The character Gerasism is a deaf man; no one is compassionate toward this individual. He was able to find love through this dog Mumu; however, he had to kill the dog. The writer does not believe that the oppression led to Gerasism killing the dog, but it was his lack of morality that led to him killing the dog by himself (Turgenev). This story reminds me how an individual selfishness can lead to an unfavorable situation in another person's life. Turgenev really believes in humanity and compassion, so he is loved by everyone. The author mentions that people of every class were present in his funeral. Therefore, Turgenev was a worshipper of mankind and did humanely activities with his hearts. The writer talks about Turgenev reflects tha...
