The Lowest of All - A Response to Twain's Conviction | Teen Ink

The Lowest of All - A Response to Twain's Conviction

March 12, 2018
By Olivia-Atlet ELITE, Dardenne Prairie, Missouri
Olivia-Atlet ELITE, Dardenne Prairie, Missouri
325 articles 10 photos 1165 comments

Favorite Quote:
"To these the past hath its phantoms,
More real than solid earth;
And to these death does not mean decay,
But only another birth"
- Isabella Banks


Why am I enslaved in the shackles of Twain’s theories,
Alongside the wrathful thieves of innocence and love?
Why are my thoughts convicted of being vacant,
Begrudging of my co-heirs in our unparalleled species,
And lacking all strands of empathy ingrained in animals above me?
How do I exhibit the same traits when I have never hesitated,
Never felt the need to withhold,
A  kind gesture or to offer my time, skills, and heart to another?
Why do you not target what is not human at all,
The lowest animal that sits on a gilded throne and placed themselves atop it?
How do you forget that we are indeed completely diverged,
Split in two by a line called Power and Greed?
Condemn the damned and lying,
Those that sold their conscience to a false reality,
Where guilt and compassion are spare change to them.


The author's comments:

I wrote this as part of an assignment in my English class, and I ended up really liking it! If you haven't read Mark Twain's satirical essay, The Lowest Animal (which I heavily recommend reading), it's about the downfalls of humankind, and how they exhibit much less empathy, and instead display greed, cruelty, and hatred.  I hope you enjoy reading the essay if you get the chance, and maybe like my work, too! Thanks for stopping by!


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