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Danielle Burke

Mrs. Pastore

English 11 Honors

22 May 2017

The Reality of the World is that all People are Selfish

All around the world, people have different views, opinions, and morals. People who live

in Africa may have different personalities and appearances than people in America, but in the

end, all people are selfish on the inside. The reality of the world is that all people care about

themselves more than they care for others. The theme of all people being selfish is present in the

texts, To Build a Fire, by Jack London, The Lowest Animal, by Mark Twain, and Genesis of the

Tenement, by Jacob Riis. Despite the stylistic differences of the three texts, in the end they are all

expressing that deep inside, everyone is selfish, even though people try and act like they are not.

To begin, To Build a Fire, is written as a short story about a man, who has a strong ego

and determined mindset, traveling the Yukon trail in freezing cold weather. Throughout the short

story, the author portrays the man to be selfish. Even though the text is a short story and is

different in its stylistic elements than Genesis of the Tenement and The Lowest Animal, the

overall theme of the text is that people are selfish. The theme of selfishness is shown in the text

when London writes, The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale

of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was

saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out

of them. Then he could build another fire. (London 342). The man only cared for himself and

was willing to kill a dog just so he could survive. He did not think about anyone else in the
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situation nor did he care about the dogs safety, instead all he could think about is killing the dog

for his own good. Overall, despite the stylistic differences To Build a Fire has compared to the

other two texts. the theme in the end is that all people are selfish, as shown in the rest of the

texts.

In addition, Genesis of the Tenement expresses the selfishness of humans when it comes

to their greediness. The text is saying that in reality, all people are selfish because they want to

be rich, even though the money they make may be affecting others in a harsh way. For example,

middle class people of New York in the late 1800s were living in terrible conditions. The people

of New York were living in tiny tenements, and for the tiny space they had, they were paying a

lot more for what it was worth. Instead of caring for the poor people living in tenements, the

owners of the tenements were greedy for their money. This is shown when Riis writes, It was

rent the owner was after; nothing was said in the contract about either the safety or the comfort

of the tenants. (Riis 385). Humankind tries to act as if they care for others, but in reality, they

do not care about others as long as they get money. Also, Riis expresses that the proprietors were

so selfish to blame the people living in the tenements for the filth when he writes, Yet so

illogical is human greed that, at a later day, when called to account, the proprietors frequently

urged the filthy habits of the tenants as an excuse for the condition of their property, utterly

losing sight of the fact that it was the tolerance of those habits which was the real evil, and that

for this they themselves were alone responsible. (Riis 285). Riis is expressing that people are so

selfish that they will not take responsibility for the wrong they did, rather blame it on someone

else. In addition, the stylistic choices of Genesis of the Tenement is different than the other texts.

Genesis of the Tenement was written as a document, and was meant to raise awareness of how
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poorly the people were being treated at the time. Riis also includes pictures to show the poor

living conditions. Riis also writes this is an accusing manner. Even though Genesis of the

Tenement was written as a document to raise awareness of the reality of tenements, in the end he

is expressing how all people are selfish, as the other texts do.

Lastly, The Lowest Animal, is different in its stylistics elements than the other two texts.

The Lowest Animal, was written as an essay to express the differences of animals and humans. In

the text, Twain is expressing that humans are cruel and selfish, and that animals only do evil

things for survival. However, the point of the text in the end is to express that all people are

selfish. Twain expresses the selfishness of people when he writes, Of all the animals, man is the

only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. (Twain

376). Twain is expressing that humans kill animals for selfish reasons such as a fun activity to do

with others. The reality of humankind is that humans are selfish and cruel and do things for their

own personal pleasure, while animals only do things to survive. In addition, Twain expresses the

selfishness and cruelty of humans when he writes, Man is the only Slave. And he is the only

animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held

other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. (Twain 376). People are the only

animals to enslave others to do work for them. People use other people for their own selfish

reasons and do not actually care for others because they would rather have others do something

for them and treat them poorly. Overall, despite The Lowest Animal being written with different

stylistic elements than the other texts, the idea of all people being selfish is portrayed in the text.

To conclude, despite the stylistic differences of the three texts, in the end they are all

expressing that deep inside, everyone is selfish, even though people try and act like they are not.
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For example, To Build a Fire is written as a short story, Genesis of the Tenement was written as a

document, and The Lowest Animal, was written as an essay, but they are all expressing that

people are selfish. In the end, the texts are saying that people are selfish, but this is shown in

different ways. The man in, To Build A Fire, is shown to be selfish because he was willing to kill

the dog to save himself. People in general are selfish in Genesis of the Tenement because people

cared more about money than the comfort and safety of others. Lastly, people are shown to be

selfish in, The Lowest Animal because people kill other animals as entertainment and other

animals kill to survive. Overall, the three texts express that deep inside, everyone is selfish and

people care more about themselves than others.

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Works Cited

London, Jack. To Build a Fire. Collections. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015.

331-46. Print.

Riis, Jacob. Genesis of the Tenement. Collections. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2015. 447-52. Print.

Twain, Mark. The Lowest Animal. Collections. Orlando: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,

2015. 384-88. Print.