...Everyone is familiar with the state of armed conflict that is war, and for as long as there has been civilization there has been war. Upon first glance, Henry David Thoreau’s “The Battle of the Ants” seems like a simple descriptive story of a battle between two different species of ants, one red and one black, but if one were to further inspect the text, they could see that Thoreau uses the ants and their battle as a satirical allegory for human conflict. Thoreau chooses to use ants as a metaphor to make it clear to the reader that war is futile, pointless, and a waste of life. “The Battle of the Ants” begins with Thoreau casually walking out to his wood-pile as he stumbles upon the battle between the red ants and the black ants. After this, he compares these ants to humans, making the allegory apparent from the start. “It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed… On every side they were engaged in deadly combat, yet without any noise that I could hear, and human soldiers never fought so resolutely” (575). Thoreau uses hyperbole early in his essay to reinforce its anti-war theme as he describes the fighting ants to be in the middle of war. However, he implies that this war is miniscule by reminding the reader of its setting: a wood-yard. Thoreau goes on to describe an even smaller battle he witnesses between two ants, again, amid the chips, giving more scope to the idea that war is irrelevant compared to the broader schemes of the world. “I watched a couple that were...
Words: 1097 - Pages: 5
...taught Arthur about war in chapter 13, and he showed Arthur the viewpoint of the geese on war against their own kind. This was all in order to help Arthur achieve his destiny to become a king. The Merlyn in “The Once and Future King” was the best supernatural aid out of the stories we have read. In chapter 5, Wart gets turned into a fish and Merlyn followed in the form of a tench. They happened upon a fish called a roach. They went back to this fish’s family where the mother fish was sick. Merlyn then heals the fish. Merlyn wanted to teach the Wart about absolute monarchy so they went to visit the “king of the moat,” an enormous pike. This king answers the questions that Wart asks but the only he does is affirm that all he cares about is power and might. Then the king chases Wart with the intent of eating him. Just before the pike could eat him, wart escaped and Merlyn turned him back into a boy. In this chapter alone, Merlyn teaches Wart about Monarchy and...
Words: 541 - Pages: 3
...Likening the red ants and the black ants to "the republicans (colonists) and the imperalists (the British)," Walden compares the battling insects to humans: For numbers and for carnage it was an Austerlitz or Dresden. Concord Fight! Two killed on the patriots' side, and Luther Blanchard wounded! Why here every ant was a Buttrick--"Fire! for God's sake fire!"--and thousands shared the fate of Davis and Hosmer (two colonists killed)....I have no doubt that it was a principle they fought for, as much as our ancestors, and not to avoid a three-penny tax on their tea; and the results of this battle will be as important and memorable to those whom it concerns as those of the Battle of Bunker Hill, at least. Clearly, Thoreau satires the importance that men have put upon going to war on "principle." Facetiously, he earlier compares the red ant who runs into battle to the the Spartan whose mother told their sons to return victorious or dead: "It was evident that their battle cry was "Conquer or die." Studying the red and black ants fighting for no other reason that they hate each other, or one has taxed the other, brings Walden's passage to the point/thesis of the futility of war as well as the terrible waste of life that it is. FUTILITY: I never learned which party was victorious, nor the cause of the war; but I felt for the rest of that day as if I had had my feelings excited and harrowed by witnessing the struglle, the ferocity and carnage, of a human battle before...
Words: 321 - Pages: 2
...The iDeal Reader Henry David Thoreau, ‘‘The Battle of the Ants’’ © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2000 Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), transcendentalist essayist, naturalist, editor, and social critic, was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau graduated from Harvard University and taught briefly at a school in Concord but resigned rather than be expected to strike his students. He ran his own school from 1838 to 1841, teaching Latin, Greek, and science. In 1938 Thoreau also began lecturing, which he continued intermittently, often emphasizing his strong opposition to slavery, but his message was not always well received. Thoreau began his lifelong friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he tutored Emerson’s brother William in 1843 on Staten Island, boarding with Emerson and his wife. He helped Emerson edit the Transcendentalist magazine The Dial. Thoreau kept a journal at Emerson’s urging, which aided him in his writing. He took a canoe trip with his brother John during the first two weeks of September 1839, which experience he transformed into a volume of poems and essays entitled A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers (1849). While he published 1000 copies himself, only about 300 sold. On July 4, 1845 Thoreau moved into a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, on land belonging to Emerson, about two miles from Concord, and lived there alone for over two years. Thoreau condensed this outdoor life as if it were a single year in his...
Words: 1884 - Pages: 8
...Contents 1. Discuss the Organizational structure as illustrated in the movie by referring to the Antz Colony structure and the Insectopia structure. 2 The Antz Colony 2 What type of structure does the Antz colony have and what are the positive/negative effects of such a structure? 3 Insectopia 4 What type of structure does Insectopia have and what are the positive/negative effects of such a structure? 4 2. Discuss the job designs of the workers in the Antz movie and indicate the implications of the job designs on the motivation of the workers. 5 Job design elements defined 5 Job design elements in the Antz colony 5 How can job satisfaction among the ants be improved? 6 Job redesign 6 Alternative work arrangements 7 How can the employee’s/ ants be more involved? 7 Rewards used as motivators 8 3. Describe the Culture that was prevalent in the Colony. 9 What does the culture do in the colony? 9 What liabilities does this culture have? 10 4. Describe and discuss the changes that took place in the movie. 11 What were the changes in the Antz colony and how could they have been handled better? 11 Bibliography 14 1. Discuss the Organizational structure as illustrated in the movie by referring to the Antz Colony structure and the Insectopia structure. An organisational structure is “the way in which job tasks are formally divided, grouped and coordinated” (Robbins & Judge, 2011). An organisation has different elements that contribute to its structure...
Words: 5502 - Pages: 23
...The death of moth & The battle of ants At first, I read the death of moth. I thought this articles are kind of elusive especially the death of moth. However, after reading several times and gathering more information about the writer, I have some own opinion about it. Comparing the death of moth, the battle of ants is more powerful, and depicts more detail about the process of battle. No one writes about such a negligible things and describe it in such details. Through reading the process of ant’s struggling and the movement of tussling, I not only feel the power of two group of ants, but also I even can experience writer’s mood. However, the death of the moth is kind of negative to me cause it express the death always defeat us. The Virginia Woolf, the writer of the death of moth, used the same insignificant objet in her article. Use a lot word like “ not properly” “ little” “nothing” to create a negligible object. Though she described all the big beautiful background for the nature, this comparing between significant surrounding and a little moth brings me more stronger feeling that no one care about the moth. Both articles illustrate the struggling between life and death. Virginia Woolf’s opinion is focus on the futility of struggling. Henry David Thoreau emphasized the contending between two groups. Reviewing the death of moth, I noticed that there are many metaphors in the article. Like so stiff or so awkward", or "The horses stood still” are all the signs...
Words: 455 - Pages: 2
...The Battle of Ants By Henry David Thoreau You only need sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns. I was witness to events of a less peaceful character. One day when I went out to my wood-pile, or rather my pile of stumps, I observed two large ants, the one red, the other much larger, nearly half an inch long, and black, fiercely contending with one another. Having once got hold they never let go, but struggled and wrestled and rolled on the chips incessantly. Looking farther, I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellum, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black. The legions of these Myrmidons covered all the hills and vales in my wood-yard, and the ground was already strewn with the dead and dying, both red and black. It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed, the only battle-field I ever trod while the battle was raging; internecine war; the red republicans on the one hand, and the black imperialists on the other. On every side they were engaged in deadly combat, yet without any noise that I could hear, and human soldiers never fought so resolutely. I watched a couple that were fast locked in each other's embraces, in a little sunny valley amid the chips, now at noonday prepared to fight till the sun went down, or life went out....
Words: 1237 - Pages: 5
...The setting for the story is an ant colony in New York City, The main character, Z is a worker ant for strives to be seen as an individual, living in a society where individualism doesn’t matter. His friends include fellow worker Azteca and a soldier ant, Weaver. After failing to support a wrecking ball, Z mourns at a bar. This is where he meets Princess Bala who has snuck out of the palace to escape from her boring royal life. They dance, deterring from the traditional dance, which sparks a fight. This causes Princess Bala to run back to the palace leaving a love struck Z behind. In order to see Bala again, Z exchanges places with Weaver and joins the army. He doesn't realise that the army's leader and Bala's fiancé, General Mandible, is secretly sending all the soldiers loyal to the Queen to die so he can begin to build a colony filled with powerful ants. When told he is marching into battle, Z is scared as he is unexperienced and only became a soldier to meet Bala. All of the soldiers except for Z are killed, but Z falls into a pit, safe from the termites. Z returns home and is hailed as a war hero, even though he did not do anything and was traumatized by the fighting. He was also congratulated personally General Mandible, who was secretly annoyed that not all the ants were killed. Z is then introduced to the queen where he meets Princess Bala again. Bala then remarks that she remembered him as a worker with Z struggling to make valid excuses. He then panics and pretends...
Words: 540 - Pages: 3
...Organism Physiology Paper: Pavement Ants Amanda James Bio/101- Principles of Biology March 19, 2016 Organism Physiology Paper: Pavement Ants Introduction We never think about how vital ants are to our environment, perhaps because of their size and their inevitable way of making our homes theirs. The reality is we need ants to survive. The most common species of ants that live near me, Richmond Virginia, are the Tetramorium caespitum. The common name for Tetramorium caespitum is the pavement ant. Tetramorium is the genus and the species is T. caespitum. According to “BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF THE PAVEMENT ANT, TETRAMORIUM CAESPITUM (L.), IN SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE: MYRMICINAE)” the pavement ant is the most common ant in North America (1980). These ants, as well as all ants have important roles detrimental to human existence and the environment they live in play a major part in how well they can perform those roles. Environment Description and Role of Organism Pavement ants live under rocks, sidewalks, pavement, inside houses and inside wood. They don’t build their homes in the open. So when you see the ant nests above ground, those ants are not pavement ants. The pavement ant keeps its home hidden from the human eye. The only time you may see their nest is in the summer months and they are usually seen near the sidewalk in cracks and crevices (Jacobs, 2000). These ants are very territorial! They are fighters and they...
Words: 1166 - Pages: 5
...“Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy,” Mao Zedong. In the movie Antz, I noticed how the entire colony of ants represented an entire society and based the introduction I felt their society was communist with some socialism. As soon as the ants where born, the innocent young ants where already being segregated into groups: Either a worker or a soldier. After the ants had been given their labels it appeared as if they automatically program themselves to dig and break rocks with no motivation or incentives of a better life, but to be a workers for the rest of their lives. With the possibility of never having individualism. The ant “Z” ultimate goal was to discover the wonderful place called, “insect utopia.”...
Words: 295 - Pages: 2
...never able to focus on my work after that, but then I recall this simple but magnificent and motivational story which gives me hope to pressure my task again. This story is related to a famous ruler of Tartary, whose name was Tamerlane. Like Alexander the Great, he wished to become the master of the whole world. So he raised a great army and made war against other countries. He conquered many kings and burned many cities. But at last, his army was beaten; his men were scattered; Tamerlane fled alone from the field of...
Words: 460 - Pages: 2
...Defeat of the Overclass The ants are enslaved. The ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food. Flik is more intent on creating inventions in order to make life around the colony easier. An epic hero is someone who with the help of others, completes a journey in an ideal manner that benefits his fellow man and marks him or her as a person to be remembered. John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton directed the 1998 film that Flik is looking for "tough warriors" to solve his colony from greedy grasshoppers. As further along, he is also clumsy and destroys the colony from collecting food for the grasshoppers until a new invention lead him only to recruit a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe and create a plan to save the colony....
Words: 787 - Pages: 4
...Based on her generation’s inflated self-esteem encouraged by school curriculums, popular culture, parents and a society that promotes narcissism, Jean Twenge, a psychologist, and professor at San Diego State University wrote an article titled, “An Army of One: Me”. She identifies this generation as “Generation Me” because she believes that they are primarily focused on themselves and they are under the “assumption that the world owes them happiness and recognition” (486). Twenge also argues how the Baby Boomers, post-World War II members born between 1946 and 1964, saw “selfhood”, or individual identity, as a difficult goal worth pursuing (486), thus, the idea of developing oneself and recognizing one’s importance became popular for Generation...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
...Merlyn, Wart is turned into many animals; a fish, an ant, a hawk, an owl, a goose, and a badger. Perhaps the most important of these is the last animal, the badger. The badger is the most learned of all of the creatures that Wart is turned into, and drives home Merlyn’s point that intelligence and education are more important in a king than being a brave knight, regardless of how many acts of chivalry one may do. Upon entering the badger’s home, Wart does not know “whether to think of it as a college or as a castle” (White 189). The Great Hall, or Combination Room is most striking with its “paintings of departed badgers…lit from above by shaded glow-rooms” (White 189). White’s description of the Combination Room brings to mind the libraries and study rooms of Oxford or Cambridge and brings home the emphasis on education and wisdom. The badger himself even says that if Wart is there to learn, than he has been sent to the right place (White 190). As Wart and the badger talk, the badger tells Wart a parable about how God gave Man “the Order of Dominion” (White 193) over the animals of the world. As Wart and the badger are discussing the parable, the lesson that Wart was to learn becomes clear; humans are the only creatures in existence to wage war upon each other. Though Arthur tries to insist that ants and wolves wage war, the lesson is that, while other species may fight each other, human beings are the only ones to wage war against each other. As the badger says, “true warfare...
Words: 782 - Pages: 4
...Many of Picasso’s works were influenced by his father who was also a painter. His works were also influenced. By the death of his close friend, Carlos Casagenmas, and also for the Spanish Civil War. He was influenced by his father because his father was the one who taught him to draw and paint. Also, his close friend, Carlos Casagenmas, influenced his works because after he died Picasso felt depressed and lonely, so he painted scenes of poverty, isolation and anguish. He also painted poor people, beggars, prostitutes, drunks and gaunt people. Therefore, Picasso was influenced by many people and...
Words: 1446 - Pages: 6
