Margaret Atwood Animals

Animals in the Now Animals have always been a main and important part in the lives of humans and still is till this day. Yet, as humans we don’t entirely praise or respect all animals the way they deserve to be treated. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “The Animals in that Country” she confronts the idea of how animals are viewed from “that” country to “this” country by describing how the animals are treated in both scenarios and using a shift in her poem to show contrast between the two countries. Atwood uses specific words to describe the animals in both countries to show how they are viewed differently. The speaker begins the poem by firstly indicating that “the animals have the faces of people” (Atwood 798; lines 1-2) implying that there seems to be no difference from animals and humans. Furthermore, the animals in ‘that’ country are described and valued as ‘ceremonial’, ‘politely’, and ‘elegant’ showing that the animals seem to be worshipped, or respected in this case. Some animals are even
The shift Atwood includes in the poem shows contrast between the two countries and gives readers the idea to compare both scenarios. After the shift in the poem, the images of the animals changes as “the animals have the faces of animals” (Atwood 799; lines 21-22) implying that now the animals are seen just as pesky creatures in ‘this’ country. In contrast from ‘that’ country the animals in ‘this’ country aren’t described as pleasantly and thoroughly as “their eyes flash once in car headlights and are gone” (Atwood 799; lines 24-26) showing that in ‘this’ country the animals are merely seen as roadkill. Another difference and instance on how the animals are treated I both countries are in ‘that’ country the animals are “given . . . elegant death[s]” (Atwood 799; lines 10-11) and in ‘this’ country the animals’ deaths are described as “not elegant” (Atwood 799; line