In search of survival
... believers of reincarnation. "In the previous-life market, there is not such a great demand for Peruvian ditch-diggers as there is for Cleopatra..." (Atwood, 17). By establishing the fact that even in humanity, the lives of historical figures outrank the lives of mere society, she begins her introduction into the lives of those in the animal kingdom; targeting specifically and with detail, the bat. Atwood captures the essence of the bat in her explanation of nightmares she's had as well as society's' views on bats as movie plots in vampire films and deadly weapons and casualties of war tactics. Each degrading the life of a bat by the hands of human flesh, the same human flesh which Atwood later declares has a higher fear factor than that of an ordinary weapon. Whichever the scenario, we can come to the conclusion that humans have thus far throughout history made a mockery of bats through Hollywood, have been highly negligent of living creatures through World War II experiments and yet have somehow still managed to despise the creatures for being deadly creatures of the night. It isn't until Atwoods' final stance entitled "Beauty" in which she draws the reader back to the topic of reincarnation, questioning that which is human form. She questions whether she lives her current life in order to protect those of her past. She further continues by asking the question, "What do we pray for? We pray for food as all do, and for health and for the increase of our kind.....". The final point Atwood states in determining what it is to be a living creature, above all else, to survive. The obvious point shared in her belief of reincarnation and her previous life as a bat is merely a small issue within the writing. Due to the fact that rei...