Analyzing the Good vs Bad

Good vs. Bad

How Does Beautiful Joe Depict the "Cruel" Vs the "Humane"? Does it Seem a Matter of Choice?

Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography (1893) encircles human-creature connections inside the defensive circle of middle class family life and depicts childrearing and pet-care as commonly constitutive. Saunders' canine life account relates the experiences of its eponymous creator, a manhandled puppy who is protected from a brutal milkman and embraced by the cherishing Morris family of Fairport, Maine (Walker). The Morrises' style of parenting epitomizes the coercive nurturance encapsulated in Richard Brodhead's understood idea of disciplinary closeness. Strongly reproachful of beating, Mrs. Morris controls the ethical still, small voices of her kids through a relentless eating regimen of "good nursing, great sustenance, and kind words" (Saunders 34). Pet-keeping coordinates flawlessly into Mrs. Morris' logic of childrearing, which she alludes to as "heart training." In a discussion with a family companion, Mrs. Morris portrays how pet-keeping has changed her "tediously, disgustingly childish" children into "the most honorable chaps in Fairport" (Saunders, pp. 39, 38).

The majority of the sensible grown-ups in Beautiful Joe embrace a sympathetic rationality of raising a child. Mrs. Morris' benevolent and shrewd sister-in-law, Mrs. Wood, oftentimes addresses her loved ones on the social need of a sympathetic instruction for youngsters. In a discussion with her niece, Mrs. Wood credits uncontrolled culpability to "absence of appropriate preparing" for the country's youth (Saunders, p. 145). "We're contemplating teaching the brain," she mourns, "and overlooking the absolute entirety" (Saunders, p. 145). To balance this predisposition, Mrs. Wood suggests that instructors slip a few "lessons of affection" in the middle of all the topography, history, and sentence structure (Saunders, p. 145).

Beautiful Joe focuses on the pliability of youngsters and the significance of humane socialization (Walker). He portrays his collection of memoirs, truth is told, as an endeavor to cultivate sympathy for creatures in youngsters: "In the event that all the young men and young ladies were to ascend and say that there ought to be no more cold-bloodedness to creatures, they could put a stop to it. Maybe it will help a little on the off chance that I recount a story ... I think the more stories there are composed about stupid creatures, the better it will be for us" (Saunders, p. 14).

Joe's story underlines the suffering he endured in the hands of Jenkins; a malicious evil milkman. Cruelty towards animals was largely ignored because it was argued that animals lacked a language or feelings or even soul. Saunders, however, as she gives her animal narrator the voice, she renders him feelings too. The first person triggers a sympathetic outlook towards the puppy. The puppy is wounded both physically and psychologically. Joe endures repeated kicking while his mom is whipped until she bleeds. Jenkins also brutally kills Joe's siblings inadvertently, even as his mother watches the heinous acts. He goes on to cut off part of Joe's tail in a rage (Johnson). Advocates of treating animals humanely suggested that people who abused and mistreated animals also abused and mistreated other humans.

The argument is supported in Jenkins' escapades that are not just seen as abusing all the animals he interacts with, but his children and wife too. He is found to be a dangerous thief later. In a young man's response, Harry, to the attack by Jenkins on Joe, we can see that an intervention by a single person on behalf of a helpless dog can make a major difference. It is also shown that laws to protect Jenkins' animals and bring their torturers to account exist. These laws have been instituted by the society to protect animals against cruelty (Johnson). Joe's narrative raises a number of pertinent issues. The description portrays Morris' household as an ideal example of a good relationship between animals and humans. The novel also addresses the philosophy that informs tolerating cruelty towards animals and provides answers for questions therein; the human action that has countered the issue of animal cruelty as meted out by humans (Johnson).

The novel mentions numerous incidents that may never have occurred to the citizens as cruelty. Some of these include the accidental; or was it deliberate shooting of hunting dogs, the training of dogs just to make them fighters, cramming of livestock into railway cars, application of cruel traps for catching wild animals, the reckless killing of animals for human food, misfitting reigns on horses and even their shoes, overdosing of dogs and horses and abandoning various animals by their owners. The Christian belief that animals do not have souls and thus will not see heaven seems to fuel cruelty towards animals. It implies that it does not matter how humans treat animals.

Another reason for condoning cruelty towards animals is presented by a young man in the narrative. He claims that animals were brought to earth to suffer for man. He claims that if animals are left untamed and not killed, they will fill and overrun the earth (Johnson). Laura Maxwell and Harry; who happen to be more human in the narrative, put forth a formidable argument against the animal cruelty by suggesting that there is no real proof that animals will not see heaven.

Nevertheless, many owners of animals will not find heaven as good if animals will be missing. Moreover, the trio point out that there is no relationship between the issue of animals going to heaven and how people should treat them on earth. The conversation seems to be a precursor to their significant decision to dedicate their lives to a campaign against animal cruelty. The argument claiming that animals are meant to suffer for humans is countered by an elderly man who says that although animals may have been brought on earth to serve humans and that they may even have to lose their lives for the sake of man, there is no tangible reason to subject them to suffering. Sheep, cattle and pigs were all created by God just like we were. We may have to kill these animals, but there is no reason to torture them (Saunders, p. 105).

Some characters such as Harry, Joe's rescuer, have decided to do all they can in their daily lives to prevent animals from torture. The author also highlights the communal efforts to fight the vice of cruelty towards animals. She picks out communities that have made strides in the crusade to stop cruelty towards animals. The American Humane Education Society, which inspires the youth to work towards the interest of animals and the band of Mercy are some of the mentioned communities (Johnson).