In Lewis Thomas’s essay “The Iks”, the Iks are described as cruel and detestable human beings. Iks grew up in their own ideal society as nomadic hunters and gatherers, but were soon forced to change into farmers on a poor hillside soil. After that, the Iks created their own views of how society acts to defend their self in their unworkable environment. The Iks treat their children as labor workers because they are put to work once they are able to walk. They desert their elders to starve and the children steal their food. The Iks breed without love or care for each other, which makes the breeding seem like a way to just increase their population. The only joy they get from life is by laughing at other people’s misfortune. …show more content…
As Thomas states, “Cities have all the Ik characteristics”(82). Cities are a big influence because everyone watches or reads news about how they treat each other and others. They portray Ik characteristics on themselves or others. Thomas states that cities have the same qualities as Iks because they also have greedy and heartless characteristics, and they could have been an influence on the Iks. Cities portray Ik characteristics on their own or on others. The people living in the cities desert their elders in a less harsh sounding way, by sending them to senior centers. Senior centers are similar to deserting elders because one pays another to take care of their elders, so they do not have to deal with them. Cities also laugh at other people’s misfortune. In addition, cities also defecate on other properties. They ways that they defecate on themselves are by littering. People litter all over the environment, where the cities had to take action and create laws that would punish those who litter. To show a cleaner environment to others, rules are made to stop people who do not care about the environment. In addition, Thomas says, “No wonder the Iks seem familiar. For total greed, rapacity, heartlessness, and irresponsibility there is nothing to match a nation”(82). A nation strives to protect themselves and for other nations to respect their area. However, war is a big factor