Animate


By Michael Bond
Pan Macmillan UK | Pegasus USA (August)

Imagine capturing an animal, extending its lifespan, and filling its mind with knowledge, unsettling it with the concept of death. What would become of it? You may find a profoundly confused and anxious creature. I highly recommend Michael Bond’s thought-provoking novel, Animate: How Animals Shape the Human Mind, as a starting point for unraveling these complexities.

We are fundamentally animals, intertwined with nature, yet often we overlook this connection.

Animate delves into the intriguing and sometimes unsettling relationship between humans and animals that began after the last ice age. In the words of the former editor of New Scientist, the time was an Eden for ancient humans, filled with encounters with cave lions, wolves, bears, and more.

Witness the remarkable emotional art created in France’s caves like Lascaux, which embodies not just the essence of creatures but also their forms and movements. According to Bond, these representations are “essential and unadorned, more like reincarnation than art.”

Rarely do human figures appear in this cave art, and when they do, they are often ambiguous. This absence emphasizes the significance of animals; they were pivotal to survival, deeply embedded in human existence.

The Neolithic era marked a shift in human perception. Art evolved into abstract representations, stripping animals of their individuality. They became mere motifs on pottery as human exploitation of animals grew, resulting in a clear distinction between humans and animals.

Why this shift? Researcher Ernest Becker, in The Denial of Death, proposed that our acute awareness of mortality drives us toward irrationality, in contrast to animals, which merely exist without such existential baggage.

Human exceptionalism, while demarcating our species as superior, has had detrimental effects on countless non-human lives. Yet, it’s challenging to envision daily life without the comfort of this separation. Bond attempts to mend this divide but confronts the obstacles of our fear of death.

For centuries, writers have likened us to animals. Bond recalls David Hume, who noted that animals, like humans, utilize observation and experience to navigate their futures. This perspective evolved, particularly after Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution challenged human exceptionalism.

However, nearly 170 years post-Darwin, we continue our complex relationship with animals. Bond eloquently critiques our disconnect, especially in meat consumption, highlighting how social distance allows many to ignore the brutal realities of slaughter.

Bond’s mission is to cultivate a kinder world. Unlike previous works where optimism prevails, Animate tackles profound themes with an unfiltered narrative.

Can a confused animal, burdened with the knowledge of its identity, find peace?

Simon Ings is a writer based in London

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