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Mr. Ashley
ENG 112
November 4, 2014
Pens, Swords, Hedgehogs, Hares and the Slow Demise of Modern Society
The face off between strength and intelligence has permeated through history as a seemingly endless debate, a debate fueled by bias and selfish intentions. This fight between the pen and the sword has only been glanced over by eyes blinded by senseless patriotism and self-destructive attitudes. “The Hare and the Hedgehog,” a tale written down by the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, faces this serious issue in a comically dark manner. The hedgehog holding the pen, and the hare holding the sword faced off in a race: a race resulting in the death of the bullying hare. Why did the hare die? Why didn't strength beat intelligence in a footrace? How did the hedgehog misuse his impeccable intelligence, and, as a society, why should we care? To get to the root of the issue let us define strength, intelligence, the pen and the sword, and let us find out why they were so important in the story and why they are so important today.
What is strength really? Is it the ability to lift a heavy weight or the the ability to run in a footrace and win? What about the ability physically attract a potential mate? I think that strength is a conglomeration of these abilities. One who exercises, one who polishes their strength, will most likely be more attractive to those around; thus, strength results in physical attractiveness (Horvath 1). It clearly requires strength to win in a footrace, or carry a heavy backpack on a battlefield, and strength is used in many sports which we enjoy as a people. Strength is by no means useless, and, even today, it is put to use in many ways.
'A walk!' said the hare, with a smile. 'It seems you might use your legs for a better purpose'” (J. Grimm and W. Grimm). In the initial stages of the hedgehog and the hare's meeting, the hare subtly
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bolsters his strength by mocking the hedgehog, and, in doing so, he indicates his assumed superiority. Indeed, the hare does seem, in many ways, outwardly superior. The hedgehog challenges him to a race nonetheless, and the hare, ironically, deems the challenge ignorant on the part of the hedgehog. How could the hedgehog ever beat the hare in a footrace? The hedgehog's legs are stubby and crooked, the hare's streamlined and made for running. How can stubby, crooked legs outrun streamlined legs?
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see” (Bergman 1). Intelligence is many things. Intelligence is the ability to solve the unsolvable, think the unthinkable, write the unwritable and emote that which cannot be emoted. Intelligence is used in trickery, manipulation, science and math, and it seems to be the veritable Swiss army knife of human ability. Intelligence is the main thing that brought humans out of the animal kingdom and led us to forge our own. Intelligence led to small and large scale inventions and the foundation of religions attempting to satiate human curiosity; it led to the scientific method, and it led us to the moon and back. Intelligence is clearly more practical than strength, but, with such a broad range of applications, it can easily be put to devious use.
Just as the hare misused his strength, the hedgehog misused his intelligence. The hedgehog reacted to the hare's mockery with a devious plan, and this highly intelligent action is in much the same vein to how David beat Goliath in the Christian Bible; although, the tone of the hedgehog's action is much darker. Intelligence in this David-beats-Goliath sense is all about strategy. The hedgehog set up the plan with his wife, and they executed it to cause the hare's demise. This David-beats-Goliath intelligence is present in modern warfare and politics, and it is this very type of intelligence that is being misused today.
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
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The arch-enchanters wand! — itself is nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it! (Bulwer-Lyton 1)
Just as the sword fell at the feet of the exhausted hare, so too did it fall at the feet of many of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Take for example the Mongol Empire, the largest empire ever known to man. It vanished, crumbled really, due to a lack of governance; it became too large for its own good. The Mongols chose to live by the sword, raping and pillaging all that they came across (Duiker and Spielvogel, “The Essential World History: To 1800: 6th Edition” 247-252). They were possibly the greatest embodiment of brute strength that the world has ever known. Alexander the Great fell under this brutish spell, as well as the Abbasids of the 7th century Middle East (Duiker and Spielvogel, “The Essential World History: To 1800: 6th Edition” 95-96, 104-106). All of these empires chose the sword over the pen, essentially sacrificing their wit for power.
The pen, on the other hand, creates governance and peace. It allows ideas to be transmitted throughout the ages, and it allows us to communicate ideas to one another in real time (just as the Hedgehog communicated his plan of action to his wife). The pen was used to write the The Code of Hammurabi (Duiker and Spielvogel, “The Essential World History: To 1800: 6th Edition” 10-11), the Constitution of the United States, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man (Duiker and Spielvogel, “The Essential World History: Volume 2: Since 1500” 471, 477-479), all papers which decreased chaos, increased peace and led to a more unified society. The pen entertains, informs and creates unity. The pen is infinite, and malleable; it is the embodiment of human intelligence. Unfortunately, in all of its potency, the pen can easily be misused.
From simply reading “The Hare and the Hedgehog” one concludes that the hedgehog won the
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race. He defeated his opponent, and he walked away with the spoils. In reality, though, critical analysis reveals that the hedgehog actually lost just as much as the hare. The hare mocked the hedgehog and in turn the hedgehog killed the hare. The hedgehog misused his intelligence to manipulate instead of using it to assist. He could have pointed out the rudeness of his acquaintance, but, instead, he killed the hare with the hare's own strength. Like many governments throughout history, he used the pen to wield the sword.
Today, more than one would think, the pen is being used to wield the sword. As a people, we actually have laws on how to conduct warfare; we act as if death is a game (The Law of Land Warfare). We manipulate our brothers and sisters into giving us their valued resources, and if they evade this manipulation, we squelch them with a plan of action much like the hedgehog's (National Energy Policy 144, Palast). Our most useful trait is causing us to kill ourselves; we are the hare, and we are the hedgehog. We are manipulating ourselves into destruction. It is possible to turn away from this path, using the pen and our human imagination to create beautiful things rather than destroy them. We can unify and set down our swords; we must take up our pens and progress before we end up lying on the ground with blood streaming from our mouths.