When it comes to the morals of man, one would immediately want to know what they are being compared to or what someone is trying to say or question. When someone argues our flaws, people tend to get interested in what one is saying. Our ears perk up a little bit and people start to listen a little closer. No one likes to hear that they are morally wrong or that their entire species is defective. In this acerbic essay from Twain, he talks about his ideals and points of view about mankind and where their principles are defective. It is a motivating piece for any reader to take a look in the mirror to see if they are any different than what is in the writing.
To begin the analysis, "I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the lower animals (so-called), and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man. I find the result humiliating to me." (Twain 1). That was the opening statement within the reading. That statement set the tone for the reading. Immediately, from that opening line, there was immediate pigeonholing of man compared to the animal kingdom given that he mentions all mankind in that broad statement. He describes throughout his writing how people are heinous and greedy. An example he uses is "I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor servings in order to partially appease that appetite" (Twain 1). From this analogy, he is showing where mankind is greedy and will stop at nothing to feed their hunger, even if it means cheating the little guy.
As the writing goes on, Twain uses successful pathos to really make the reader understand the logic behind his writing. He is persuasive in his manner because his "experiments" seem logical and the details are strong when he compares mankind to animals.
