Tao was once a happy tiger, back when she could roam the jungle, surrounded by trees with sloths hanging off their branches and vines on which this family of monkeys would always swing.
Now, all she roams is this tiny, square cell, with thick steel bars and walls each less than 8 meters long. Surrounded by toys and chains and frozen steaks she could no longer stomach, Tao sleepily puts her head down and turns in for the night, almost immediately drifting off into dreamland.
She hears birds chirping and is suddenly in the jungle. It is morning and Tao paces her corner of the jungle while looking for something to stalk and kill for breakfast. Her mind drifts and she feels free. Time flies and it is now sunset. She sees the vermilion sky, blinding red just above the horizon that gradiates up into the light pink clouds directly above her. The upper three-eights of the sun that remains above the horizon slowly sinks below it, it is now dusk, the darkness slowly settling into the night.
Clank! Tao awakens to the metal bars sliding and sees the rough, pale beige walls around her. She sees June, her handler, coming in to take her to her morning workout in preparation for the big show. As she hopped between platforms and jumped through hoops for hours, she was almost thankful for how she was able to move around. It was the closest thing she had to the feeling of freedom. But this wasn’t freedom. She grew more and more tired with every command she had to obey. Then it was eventually, finally, all over… until she had to do it all again tomorrow.
Weeks of excruciating training pass and the night before the show, exhausted from her workout, Tao returns to her cell, devours her four steaks, and quickly falls into a dream. It is dusk and her jungle friends are out to hunt. There is a trio of frogs by the riverbank, getting their fill of the hundreds of insects flying above the water surface. The snakes are out looking for tiny mammals, their hissing giving Tao goosebumps all over. Suddenly she is hunting a deer: silently stalking, gradually approaching… crunch! a leaf that was just a little too crispy.
A failed hunt does not feel new. It’s been a while since she’s had control of her diet. She’s been fed mostly commercial pork and beef. She especially misses the wild boar and venison that she herself earned. Right on cue, June comes with a piece of steak, which, as she watches the stage hoops being set up, Tao reluctantly gnaws on.
A spotlight shines on Tao. She looks into the crowd and sees thousands of people. Through their screams of excitement she feels the pressure to put on a show. The show begins and she goes through the course, hurdling hurdles and jumping through hoops flawlessly. Nothing she hasn’t done before. Until this one hoop that was on fire. It was a totally new trick she has never prepared for. Suddenly she was nauseous, the crowd screaming her name and her handler and many other humans yelling at her to jump through. And then, just like that, it was all too much. Tao pounces for June, who is mauled in a matter of seconds. Two other humans fall victim to Tao’s savagery in the fight to save June.
The crowd is stunned as Tao examines her crime scene. She feels like there is a pit in the bottom of her stomach and wishes she could undo her actions. She prays and prays but nothing can be undone. Evil has been committed and is now free to run the world. Ironic that this is all Tao ever wanted, to be free and wild in the jungle once again. Now she is bound to this evil that she has committed, forever.
Take this story to heart and tell it to whomever you want. Or keep it to yourself, it’s your choice. But know that a story, once told, cannot be untold. So be careful about the stories you tell, and most importantly, the stories you listen to.
Reflection:
This assignment was the one I enjoyed writing the most so far. I appreciated the creative freedom we were given in reproducing the story about the origin of evil. I based my story on the one circus tiger that went into convulsions after having to jump through rings of fire for a show.
I wrote the story with Tao the tiger as a protagonist because I wanted to tell the story of animals and humans from the opposite perspective than we are used to, which is from the animal’s point of view. As I was trying to think up what kind of evil there was to end my story, an idea came to me that added complexity to the evil part of it. While the main, explicit evil was Tao’s mauling of three humans, including her handler, what of the humans who captured this wild animal and forced it into the circus life? We humans do so many things to hurt animals, not just by keeping them in captivity, but also by destroying their habitats for our commercial gain. I hope that this story, while slightly morbid at some points, can provoke reflection on the collective impact of our lifestyle as a species on the environment.
Hi Chino,
Your story was fascinating to read!
I like how it is from the perspective of Tao the tiger, as this asks us to empathize with animals and imagine things from their point of view. It also reminds us that animals have thoughts and feelings too and are not creatures who should be controlled by humans.
Along with the entertainment industry, I also thought of commercial meat production (which you mention) and how this commodifies the lives of animals. Not only are they killed for the consumption of humans, but they are also born into the system and unable to live freely.
Your story also encourages us to have relations with animals and to let them teach us.
Did any other examples of the commodification of animals come to mind when you were writing this story?
-Jade 🙂
Hi Jade, that was exactly the reason I chose to tell it from Tao the tiger’s perspective! Thank you for reading my story and I appreciate your takeaways from reading it. I am just glad that my story was able to provoke some meaningful thought in a fellow classmate’s mind.
I thought of several ways that humans exploit animals and besides those you mentioned, including cockfighting and dogfighting. Commercial meat production is probably the largest scale on which animal exploitation occurs, but roosters and dogs involved in these blood sports endure physical and psychological trauma. It is especially sad to me because dogs are man’s best friend and to put one through a life of fighting and aggression when it can be full of love is disheartening. Also, roosters that fight can be badly wounded and often killed. They can also be bred specifically for fighting. Further reading on Wikipedia’s “Blood sport” page, subsection “Animal fighting” leads to a whole new world of how people have been pitting animals against each other, such as rat, badger, and bear-baiting. Just unfortunate to think that we humans are so selfish as to completely control an animals’ lifestyles for our own entertainment and consumption.
Hi Chino!
I enjoyed the vivid nature in your story and thought it was so beautifully done to have Tao dream of this nature after every day at the circus; your writing choices really made me empathize with Tao. I agree there are two sides of harm at play here, one from human captives who treated Tao inhumanely and forced him to do tricks he didn’t want to do and one from Tao who mauled the humans. Harmful actions unto others often creates a backlash leading to more hate, anger, and harm. Oftentimes, people and animals cause harm because they are ignorant of how what they are doing may harm another. Also, sometimes society, conditioning, and discourses desensitize people, enabling them to rationalize doing harm unto others. How do you define evil? And how does unawareness play a part in what actions are considered evil? How do you think desensitization or rationalization because of what society has taught someone affects whether these harmful acts are considered evil?
Hi Gabrielle, thanks for reading my story and for your insight!
I think the conditioning and desensitization inflicted by society upon its members is due to a combination of two things: the ease with which an individual or group can propagate their views to allow hateful culture to proliferate and ignorance and closed-mindedness by members of society who are hateful toward and who view those different than them as “others” instead of fellow human beings of unique backgrounds.
Rationalized or not, hurting and causing pain to any living entity is itself evil. In my opinion, a harmful act committed by an unaware and uneducated human absolutely should be considered evil. Their awareness and rationalization do not play a role in my evaluation of whether the act itself is evil. However, the offender should not be prosecuted and themself labeled as evil. Instead, the people around them in their community must use this lack of awareness to help make them better. It is only through open-mindedness and conversation, being open to sharing your views and learning about others’ in a safe space, that world peace will be achieved.
Hi Chino,
Your story read very beautifully. The contrast between Tao’s heaven-like dream state and her small cage conveyed your message very clearly.
What was horrifying was when I found out how this story is often a reality, as with your shared link. I almost wish I had not seen or read about that poor circus animal, ignorance truly is bliss. I was not aware of the serious consequences of using animals in the entertainment industry.
To be honest I am a bit speechless. To think that the tiger in that video and story really isn’t different than a household feline (other than a few hundred lbs!). Horrifying!
Hi Navid!
Thank you for reading my story. I felt the same way as I was going about my research but I also understand that accepting ugly truths only adds to our knowledge and understanding of how to be a human being.
When you say that the tiger is not much different than a household feline, what comes to mind is how dogs are man’s best friend, and cats in general don’t seem to be as friendly or loving as canines. I was wondering if that’s what you meant, because I did some digging and found this. Very interesting read, and in this context, it really made me think about the whole idea of domestication (and sometimes, abuse) of felines of all types and sizes for human entertainment.