Hunting is seen as morally wrong or barbaric by animal advocates. People see it as cruel because unlike natural predators many humans do it for pleasure. As more people find it inhumane the deer population goes up daily. Hunting is an activity that our ancestors have done for millions of years that is still practiced in different countries as a way to survive so what makes America so different? Nicholas D. Kristof explores this topic in his essay titled “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle”. His argument is pro-hunting, using a lot of statistics and demographics to dispute the animal advocates. Nicholas D. Kristof uses an abundance of ethos and logos to sway his audience in hopes they will pick up a rifle and start hunting.
The strongest appeal that Nicholas D. Kristof presents is logos. He uses many facts and figures to back up his argument that hunting is something we have to do to save our environment and live safely. “Deer also kill people more directly. A study for the insurance industry estimated that deer kill about 150 people a year in car crashes nationwide and cause $ 1 billion in damage”(188). Deer kills more people in America than any other mammal. These deaths are not always due to deer mauling humans, but mainly due to car crashes. The high numbers make deer the deadliest animal in America. The populations of deer are expanding yearly and liberals and animal advocates aren’t finding a solution to stop the expansion. Death tolls and billions of dollars are serious problems that can be stopped with such a simple solution, hunting. Hunting would save lives yearly, which makes you start to think, is a deer's life more valuable than a human's? “In a wilderness, there might be ten deer per square mile; in parts of New Jersey, there are up to 200 per square mile”(188). The overabundance of deer kills more than just humans, they are destroying our ecosystem by affecting plants, birds, and different big predators like coyotes and cougars. The only solution is releasing bigger games to the communities, sterilizing deer, or the obvious- hunting them. Applying a vast amount of logic Nicholas D. Kristof makes you think from a nonemotional standpoint to win you over with logos.
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Nicholas D. Kristof applies an immense amount of ethos throughout the essay. Using ethos he creates credibility so the viewer can see him as trustworthy. To back up his statistics he uses a lot of organizations and magazines to get his information correct. “As the editor of Adirondack Explorer magazine suggested, do we introduce wolves into the burbs?”(189). Using a nonprofit magazine like Adirondack Explorer has main goal is to protect the environment makes his statement more dependable to the reader. Also using a statement like the above that brings up other alternatives to keeping the deer population down strengthens his ethos by showing that he can try to see other possibilities which shows he is unbiased and fair. He uses regular people as well in his essay to show that deer attacks can happen to anyone. “In October, for example, Wayne Goldsberry was sitting in a home in northwestern Arkansas when he heard glass breaking in the next room. It was a home invasion by a buck”(189). Using everyday people shows his ethos by displaying he did his research and communicated with people who aren’t paid to give an opinion. After backing up his credibility and character with ethos you are persuaded that he has good character and is open to understanding his side of hunting.
While implicating a lot of reason and logic in this essay, the author also dispenses satire. By implicating a little humor it takes away from the touchy subject and gives the reader a chuckle now and then. “I don’t expect many soccer moms to install gun racks in their minivans”(189) he says, which brings a little playfulness to the essay. Using wit and comedy catches the reader's attention without taking away all the seriousness from the essay. “The upshot is that towns in New York and New Jersey are talking about using birth control to keep deer populations down. (Liberals presumably support free condoms, while conservatives back abstinence education). Deer contraception hasn’t been very successful, though” (188). Tieing into real-life contraception with deer he plays with humor while making a statement. There is no way to make deer wear a type of contraception so it brings the reader to realize that hunting is one of the only solutions left.
Hunting was an important pastime like scavenging and gathering for human survival but now people do it purely for entertainment. This interest in pleasure is a violent action that kills millions of animals per year. “Hunting causes suffering, especially for marine mammals. There is no “humane' method of killing any but the smallest marine mammals and a harpooned whale typically suffers an agonizing and miserable death, sometimes prolonged over several hours. A high proportion of land mammals and ducks are injured rather than being killed instantly; these “cripples” may suffer for days before either recovering or dying. ”(70) When shooting an animal not all goes as planned, there a many cases where the animal gets away and is injured. In some cases, the animal is shot in the face or gut and is faced with an excruciating death. The fear of being hunted inflicts fear of a constant chase and doesn’t allow animals to do basic things like eat and graze stress-free. There is also no way for a fair chase, an animal has no way to defend themselves so they are left hopeless while being hunted. “Hunting wrongly deprives animals of something valuable to them- their lives”(69) Animals have lived side by side with humans for as long as we know, they aren’t entertainment or just food sources they are part of what makes this planet so special. They have emotions and feel pain, so why would we want to inflict that on another species? It's morally wrong to look at something in the eye and know that in one second it's no longer going to be living and breathing and feel that you are righteous enough to make that decision. To kill for a food source is one thing, but to kill just to kill is another. Animals have a life just like we do and it isn’t just to take it away just because we have the power to do so.
The deer population is growing every day which is creating death tolls, billions of dollars in car crashes, diseases and negatively affecting the ecosystem daily. Nicholas D. Kristof has found a simple solution- hunting. In his essay “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle” he explores different approaches which all are less successful which leaves the reader more open to understanding his standpoint on picking up a rifle and hunting. He persuades his readers by applying a vast amount of logos, ethos, and satire to convince them to help the environment.
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