The Badger And Woodchucks Comparison Essay

People are often compared to as animals. Maxine Kumin wrote “Woodchucks” and John Clare wrote “The Badger”. Both are using animals to describe humans and the way they act toward each other. Clare wrote in his about sympathy, fear, and victories or not. Kumin speaks of fear, hatred, obsession, and killing of these pests. Written over 100 years part humans and their actions have changed very little.
In Maxine Kumin’s “Woodchucks”, she is talking about a Jew and how he/she was killed during the rule of the Nazi’s. “The knockout bomb” (Kumin line 2), describes the gas chambers Jews were sent to and “to the feel of the .22” (Kumin 14), describes how if a Jew ran they were shot down in cold blood. The Nazi’s had a fear of the Jews taking over the world so “and then took over the vegetable patch, nipping the broccoli shoots, beheading the carrots” (Kumin 11-12). When an obsession starts you lock everything into it. “O one-two-three the murderer inside me rose up hard, the hawkeye killer came on stage forthwith.” (Kumin 22-24). At the end of the poem, “If only they’d all consented to die unseen gassed underground the quiet Nazi way” (Kumin 29-30), shows the true feelings the author has.
The underdog may win a couple of battles but rarely wins the war.
In “The Badger” by John Clare, he uses many statements of battles won, “He turns about to face the loud uproar and drives the rebels to their very door” (Clare 15-16), and “When badgers fight, then everyone’s a foe” (Clare 18). The favorites or bullies push the underdogs around to implant fear and even make a sport out of it. “The poacher shoots and hurries from the cry” (Clare 7), “And bait him all the day with many dogs” (Clare 11), “The frequent stone is hurled where’er they go” (Clare 17) are some ways Clare uses to describe this. “And leaves his hold and cackles, groans and dies” (Clare 40), the underdog gave 100 percent so he wins the victory of the last battle but the favorites kill him in the
end.
In the “The Badger” by John Clare and “Woodchucks” by Maxine Kumin the animal loses. There is a chain of command in the world which we live. We as people have it in our nature to be the dominate species. Both authors describe domination, “There’s one chuck left. Old wily fellow, he keeps me cocked and ready day after day after day” (Kumin 25-26) and “He falls as dead and kicked by boys and men” (Clare 37). Although each poem was written a century apart they still have the same though. Humans are just like animals.