Morale in George Saunder and Sherman Alexie's Short Stories - Book Report/Review Example

Story Review for “93990” by George Saunders The short story “93990” by George Saunders was written in a medical study format. As an experimentation report, it seemed highly realistic and used all of the correct scientific jargon enough times to make the readers forget that it is a story of fiction. However, the study presented within the story, even if dealt with scientifically, still managed to give the reader a horrific insider look at the unregulated world of animal testing. The titular monkey in the story “93990” was the only who did not exhibit the symptoms of serious drug poisoning and renal failure in his group. For some miraculous reason, he seemed to be immune from the effects of toxin. But that is not to say that the monkey was not feeling the effects of being poisoned. Unlike the other monkey's in the group, 93990 displayed almost child like abilities to implore for his life. A sign that the animal testers did not heed nor comprehend because they were concentrated in finding the same results in 93990 as the other deceased members of his group. The fact that the monkey, who had survived the experimentation somehow was still murdered by the handlers depicts the sorry state of animal rights in a supposedly highly intellectual and animal loving society. There was no clear report as to what the effects of the poison was on the monkey because the animal did not die from the effects of the toxin via renal failure. The monkey was simply murdered because he was not supposed to survive. That, is how heartless the animal testing industry is and that is what George Saunders wished to prove by his documentary style writing of this short story that could have easily been the story basis of the legendary tale of “Planet of the Apes”. Story Review for “The Limited” by Sherman Alexie Sherman Alexie in this short poem depicted animal abuse in our modern day lives. The question within the poem seeming to be “how can we humans, as a thinking creature, knowingly try to murder an innocent animal?” Of what benefit is it to man to try and murder a dog, whose only crime in life it seems, was to not have an owner around to protect him? Why exactly did that man in the car wish to do the poor animal bodily harm? Of what satisfaction would it have been to him? The only answer I can think of is that the man in the car was a bully who took his aggression out on helpless animals. What was more troubling as I read the poem though, was the fact that a bystander who knew that what the man did was evil chose to let it go. No doubt because he feared repercussions for his own safety after the would be murdered urged him to try and do something about it. The moral of the poem for me is this. That humans should learn to value the lives of animals on the same level as our own. For we can protect ourselves from harm but these animals cannot. They need someone to stand up for their lives, to look out for them. For unlike what Alexie thinks, a poet can actually save another life, not just his own. He just needs to have the guts to go ahead and try to save that other life instead of being an irate bystander to the event. Story Review for “Another Proclamation” by Sherman Alexie Everyone remembers Abraham Lincoln as the “Father of Emancipation”. He set a race of Black people free because he understood that these people were being mistreated and executed by the Whites. Though they tried to fight off the negative treatment that they were receiving, they did so without taking up arms against our forefathers. Which is less than could be said about the Indians from whom our forefathers forcibly took this land we now call home. As one reads the poem by the prolific Alexi Sherman, it would almost seem as if he is selling the poem as a method of division between the Blacks and the Indians. With Lincoln in the part of the all knowing executioner who had to decide upon who would live or die by a stroke of his pen. This poem in itself, seems to be an explanation as to why he signed the emancipation treaty. It is almost as if Lincoln tried to wash his hands of the Indian genocide he ordered by giving freedom to the other group that chose to silently serve the White man as his slave. This is a part of American history that not everyone knows about and this poem tries to inform us about this little known event. It is meant to ask us to consider the historical past of our nation and question some of the decisions of our forefathers that obviously had a tremendously negative effect on a founding race of people that settled on this land long before the British Americans did. Story Review for “After Building the Lego Star Wars Ultimate Death Star” by Sherman Alexie Without knowing the background of Sherman Alexi, someone who read “After Building the Lego Star Wars Ultimate Death Star” would think that he was discussing the ways that young boys have changed their play time habits since the author was a little boy. As a child, Alexie grew up viewing the Indians as his enemies that needed to be destroyed using any means possible. In a way, the reason that he did not think that his actions of wanting to hurt Indians comes from the fact that our society promoted violent play as exactly that “play”. Without ever making a child realize that with “violent play” comes true “death” for those involved. I view this poem as an anti-war poem that asks people to consider the repercussions of war and what is costs us as human beings. With each war that we undertake as a nation, our humanity dies a little and pretty soon, we will no longer be satisfied with simple wars. No. The time will come when we will want to wipe out nations instead. A situation that has already become a reality as some other nations have already undertaken mass genocide as a form of controlling the citizens of their country. Story Review for “Invisible Dog on a Leash” by Sherman Alexie We live in a world where make believe and reality are quite difficult to tell apart thanks to the magic of movies and television. As children, we are impressionable individuals who believe that adults can perform some sort of death defying things that as adults, we would like to do as well. That is the center of the short story “Invisible Dog on a Leash” by Sherman Alexie. The theme being that the world will always try to sell us a bag of worthless goods and it is up to the individual to discard what is truly useless and keep what is useful. In life, the story reminds us that we will come across disappointments. Mostly because as we age, we will come to realize that everything about what we see in our world is not always what it seems. But even with the mounting disappointments, we will still continue to believe in the unbelievable for some reason and along with that, we will come away from the experience with a new understanding of mankind. Sherman Alexie for one, in the short story, learned that there is no such thing as magic. That everything is done with a purpose and that there is nothing to fear from movie magic. Everything is make believe. Nothing can be taken as truth. Just like some things in our lives, we create realities that make our lives easier, even if it is based in fiction. In the end, reality will still come back to bite us on the butt. So we should learn to enjoy the ride rather than complain about it. Read More