The Inheritor

The Inheritor

1.

2. In this story, I think the inheritor is the man. I think this because he was able to save the ewes life, in which it did nothing for him. But if you look at it another way, biblically, the man saved the ewe, which is sacred, and in return, god helped him survive by being spotted by the army helicopter.

3. In the beginning of the story, the mans initial thought was that he was going to look at the situation with a practical eye (pg155). Then when he saw the dingo watching the ewe, he felt relived because he must of felt that the dingo was not interested in attacking him. His dilemma consists of him feeling pity for the sheep. He did not want the sheep to die, but if that were to happen, he would have to risk himself. He thought that eventually the dingo will kill the ewe, but the flood would cause no other organisms to be there for the dingo to eat. Eventually he would be attacked.

4. The man was able to defeat the dingo because he knew that the dingo could not maintain the high ground forever. He stayed close to the ewe, but not too close as he would frighten it. So that he would not be surprised from an attack, he decided to go right in front of the dingo, eye to eye. He suddenly rose up his arms and shouted. He caught the dingo off guard, and the man was able to get on top of it. He choked it until it could breath anymore. He was superior to his opponent because he was able to use the element of surprise, and he was much more calm.

5.
a.) The significance of the allusion to the golden fleece is that the man wanted to keep the ewe as an symbol. First of all, in the Catholic religion, a sheep is considered sacred, so the author made it sound like it was made of gold. This is relevant because people like expensive things, as it is sacred to them. The sheep in this instant is the expensive thing to the man.
b.) The men in the helicopter reacted that way because they thought that the sheep had special value to the man, as they were the only two living creatures on the peak.
c.) I think the man only had two choices. Both would be good and bad. The way he went was good because he was able to save a sheep from a brutal murder. Yet he did this by killing a predator that was only doing something so it could live. If he would of done the opposite, and let the sheep die, the dingo would of most likely lived, if only the flood didn’t get to it.

6. (Didn’t really get it) a.) I can conclude from the mans decision about crime is that if you would be face to face with that situation with people, you would not have the choice of killing them. This would be considered murder. b.) The environmental problems faced in this would be the flooding that caused the whole situation. c.) The public complicity with war crimes and government wrongdoing would relate to this, because situations like the one in the story might be caused by these examples.

9. I think the man only had two choices. Both would be good and bad. The way he went was good because he was able to save a sheep from a brutal murder. Yet he did this by killing a predator that was only doing something so it could live. If he would of done the opposite, and let the sheep die, the dingo would of most likely lived, if only the flood didn’t get to it. So really, the man could of done anything to save himself, but something would not of lived, or been okay because of it.