In the fourteenth chapter of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007) by Barbara Kingsolver, entitled You Cant Run Away on Harvest Day, Kingsolver describes the trying task of bonding with meat before killing it. She first begins using analogies between killing and everyday experiences such as a child with an infection killing pathogens through medication. Kingsolver then makes use of solemn diction to build a case of justification for slaughtering the very animals that she plays with and offers names for purpose of differentiation. Lastly she uses quotes from other authors on the subject of harvesting animals in order to share a disputed opinion, but also offer a more accepted point of view of the act of harvest in September. The purpose of the chapter is to preview for outsiders not performing this in depth task of the act, the motivation, and the commitment required to Harvest ones poultry. Most interested in this chapter would be those interested in killing their own food, or those against the act of animal harvest, as the author deems it.
Vocabulary
Machismo-strong or aggressive masculine pride
Impunity- exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious
Gratuitous-uncalled for, lacking in good reason: unwarranted
Mantras- a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in mediation
Arid- having little or no rain: too dry or barren
Rankle- continue to be painful
Rhetorical Strategies
Analogy- “When a child is sick with an infection we rush with a medicine spoon, committing an eager and streptococcus massacre.”(270)
Mockery-“ Forgive us. …It’s just the high-mindedness that rankles: when moral superiority combines with billowing ignorance, they fill up a hot air balloon that’s awfully hard not to poke.” (222)
Rhetorical Question- “Who among us have never killed living creatures on purpose?”(270)
Factual Evidence- “Grass is a solar powered infinitely renewable resource.”(226)
Telegraphic Sentences-“ No real alternatives existed. Now they do.”(228)
Anecdote- “Our mood stayed solemn until Eli introduced the comedy show of poultry parts.”(235)
Tone
The tone is solemn, and impartial due to diction choices geared to the subject of killing the animals. The euphemism of harvesting animals as opposed to killing demonstrates solemnness. As impartiality is demonstrated through the mindset the author treats the animals in the slaughter process as it is just a routine.
Discussion Questions
What is the purpose of using euphemisms in regard to killing the animals?
Does the author enjoy the process of harvesting or despise it?
Why does the author continuously backtrack to the destruction of America? What does it suggest about her views of the country as a whole?
Quote
“ To believe we can live without taking life (killing) is delusional.”
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