Professor Balthazar Becker
English 126
10 March 2016 A Remembrance of Horror
The essays in discussion for this assignment are “Philosophers and the Animals” by J. M. Coetzee and "Can the Treatment of Nonhuman Animals Be Compared to the Holocaust?" by David Sztybel. The first essay, “Philosophers and the Animals” is from J. M. Coetzee’s book The Lives of Animals. The essay introduces the readers to an author of many novels, Elizabeth Costello, her son John Bernard and her daughter-in-law Norma Bernard. Elizabeth Costello has arrived in Waltham to address at her son’s place of work, Appleton College. Even though, his family is not comfortable with the visit, John Bernard accommodates his mother at his house and …show more content…
According to the author, the term holocaust when defines, directs us to the treatment of animals by humans. Thus, comparing the treatment of Jews during Hitler’s rule on Germany with the treatment of animals for scientific researches should not be something completely out of context. It is the same kind of oppression in which the oppressed are used for exploitation and personal use for which David Sztybel offers a “thirty-nine-point comparison” in the essay (Sztybel, 98). The author has presented examples of holocausts’ death camps’ survivors and put forward their views related to the topic as well. He also notes that these survivors have a rather passionate relationship of empathy for all the animals who suffer at the hands of …show more content…
J. M. Coetzee explains his thesis in the form of a story in which human emotions and thoughts are also involved. On the other hand, David Sztybel presents his point of view in the form of a dissertation with added references in the form of a literature review. Both authors discuss the issue of human and animal exploitation by examining the history of holocaust and by presenting facts to prove their