Am I Blue by Alice Walker - Essay Example

Am I Blue by Alice Walker Am I Blue is one of the writings by Alice Walker that hold the distinction of being banned but reading it does not seem to clarify the reason why the article should be banned in the first place. The essential argument which comes across in Walker’s article makes it clear that animals are shown cruelty and the idea of eating them is quite incompatible with the idea of allowing animals to be free and being kind to animals. There are also other themes in the writing such as connecting the position of captive animals to slaves and the notion of loneliness itself but the strongest point made by Am I Blue is that eating animals is not something which can be condoned by a free society.

Simply put, it is impossible to disagree with the idea that we consider animals to be free and that we are kind to the animals around us. It is hypocritical for a society to suggest that animals are treated with kindness while we hold them prisoner in racks, force-feed them, use them as beasts of burden, take away whatever they can produce for us and then eat them since we are omnivores. Moreover, we do what we want to the animals and to the planet we live on simply because we have been given dominion.

Undoubtedly, the article has powerful imagery and makes it quite clear than consuming meat only makes us a part of the system which is cruel to animals while keeping us in a bind of hypocrisy. So perhaps the better suggestion would be to stop the hypocrisy in society and be clear about how we feel about animals in general. The cute ones we will save and preserve e.g. the polar bear or the panda, the ugly ones can go extinct for all we care e.g. the Komodo dragon and the dodo, while the ones which provide us with food will undergo genetic treatment to give us as much as we want in terms of meat and dairy products.

It seems that there is nothing wrong in being honest since we have used animals for centuries and even hunt them for our sport, race them for our gambling, sacrifice them for our religions and exterminate them when we need more land for our cities. So perhaps it is time for being honest since despite the articles written by those who support animal rights, it is not likely that McDonald’s is going to stop selling double quarter pounders any time soon. So the idea of being ‘kind’ and ‘humane’ is little more than a lie which we tell ourselves to keep us happy.

It is said that once a person sees sausages being made, s/he would never eat them. Perhaps it is time we realize that the sausages we make and the various types of meat that we consume were once part of a living creature. That living creature went through pain and suffering as it was killed for our use and our pleasure. The flesh had to be boiled, ripped and stripped from the bones of the creature just so that we could have meat. Once we know that, I am certain it would only enhance the pleasure individuals derive from having meat.

Works CitedWalker, A. 1996, Alice Walker Banned, Aunt Lute Books.Word Count: 568