THE NAKED APE

More documents

Recommendations

Info

variety of forms. Big-game hunting, stag-hunting, foxhunting, coursing, falconry, wild-fowling, angling and the hunting-play of children are all contemporary manifestations of the ancient hunting urge. It has been argued that the true motivation behind these present-day activities has more to do- with the defeating of rivals than the hunting down of prey; that the desperate creature at bay represents the most hated member of our own species, the one we would so like to see in the same situation. There is undoubtedly an element of - truth in this, at least for some individuals, but when these patterns of activity are viewed as a whole it is clear that it can provide only a partial explanation. The essence of `sport-hunting' is that the prey should be given a fair chance of escaping. (If the prey is merely a substitute for a hated rival, then why give him any chance at all?)' The whole procedure of sport-hunting involves a deliberately contrived inefficiency, a self-imposed handicap, on the part of the hunters. They could easily use machine-guns, or more deadly weapons, but that would not be `playing the game'-the hunting game. It is the challenge that counts, the complexities of the chase and the subtle manoeuvres that provide the rewards. One of the essential features of the hunt is that it is a tremendous gamble and so it is not surprising that gambling, in the many stylised fortes it takes today, should have such a strong appeal for its. Like primitive hunting and sport-hunting, it is predominantly a male pursuit and, like them, it is surrounded by seriously observed social rules and rituals. An examination of our class structure reveals that both sport-hunting and gambling are more the concern of the lower and upper social classes than of the middle classes, and there is a very good reason for this if we accept them as expressions of a basic hunting drive. I pointed out earlier that work has become the major substitute for primitive hunting but as such it has most benefited the middle classes. For the average lower-class male, the nature of the work he is required to do is poorly suited to the demands of the hunting drive. It is too repetitive, too predictable. It lacks the 166
elements of challenge, luck and risk so essential to the hunting male. For this reason, lower-class males share with the (non-working) upper-class males a greater need to express their hunting urges than do the middle classes, the nature of whose work is much more suited to its role as a hunting substitute. Leaving hunting and turning now to the next act in the general feeding pattern, we come to the moment of the kill. This element can find a certain degree of expression in the substitute activities of work, sporthunting and gambling. In sport-hunting the action of killing still occurs in its original form, but in working and gambling contexts it is transformed into moments of symbolic triumph that lack the violence of the physical act. The urge to kill prey is therefore considerably modified in our present-day way of life. It keeps reappearing with startling regularity in the playful (and not so playful) activities of young boys, but in the adult world it is subjected to powerful cultural suppression. Two exceptions to this suppression are (to some extent) condoned. One is the sport-hunting already mentioned, and the other is the spectacle of bullfighting. Although vast numbers of domesticated animals are slaughtered daily, their killing is normally concealed from the public gaze. With bull-fighting the reverse is the case, huge crowds gathering to watch and experience by proxy the acts of violent' preykilling. Within the formal limits of blood-sports these activities are permitted to continue, but not without protest. Outside these spheres, all forms of cruelty to animals are forbidden and punished. This has not always been the case. A few hundred years ago the torture and killing of `prey' was regularly staged as a public entertainment in Britain and many other countries. It has since been recognised that participation in violence of this kind is liable to blunt the sensitivities of the individuals concerned towards all forms of blood-letting. It therefore constitutes a potential source of danger in our complex and crowded societies, where territorial and dominance restrictions can build up to an almost unbearable degree, sometimes 167
Page 1 and 2:
THE NAKED APE by Desmond Morris A B
Page 3 and 4:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is intend
Page 5 and 6:
INTRODUCTION THERE are one hundred
Page 7 and 8:
some respect. If they were healthy,
Page 9 and 10:
CHAPTER ONE ORIGINS THERE is a labe
Page 11 and 12:
we put it, it looks out of place. E
Page 13 and 14:
The primate group, to which our nak
Page 15 and 16:
Faced with a new environment, our a
Page 17 and 18:
complex manoeuvres could be develop
Page 19 and 20:
The brightest stars in the carnivor
Page 21 and 22:
a pack of African hunting dogs it i
Page 23 and 24:
the night, but the contrast is neve
Page 25 and 26:
in the dirt of the den or lair. Aft
Page 27 and 28:
was a process of differential infan
Page 29 and 30:
eating it, each have their own part
Page 31 and 32:
Male and female hunting apes had to
Page 33 and 34:
feature was its naked skin, which l
Page 35 and 36:
home bases, its dens became heavily
Page 37 and 38:
vital missing links in our ancient
Page 39 and 40:
first appears. A great deal will de
Page 41 and 42:
CHAPTER TWO SEX SEXUALLY the naked
Page 43 and 44:
phase, privacy is sought and the su
Page 45 and 46:
summatory act of sperm ejaculation
Page 47 and 48:
the arteries pumping blood into the
Page 49 and 50:
activity. Once the climax has been
Page 51 and 52:
old females will have experienced o
Page 53 and 54:
stay put and mind the babies while
Page 55 and 56:
-the female remains responsive to t
Page 57 and 58:
mucous surfaces permanently exposed
Page 59 and 60:
areas in other animals where there
Page 61 and 62:
Any body relationship, they feel, s
Page 63 and 64:
At some point, back in our ancestry
Page 65 and 66:
sexual contacts. In this particular
Page 67 and 68:
This may also explain why the male
Page 69 and 70:
lengths to render her as sexually r
Page 71 and 72:
ised his sex life. The contemporary
Page 73 and 74:
apology being proportional to the d
Page 75 and 76:
enlarges it, imitating in this way
Page 77 and 78:
ituation where the female is produc
Page 79 and 80:
and avoids being attacked. A subord
Page 81 and 82:
object lacking these signals. Secon
Page 83 and 84:
is that the prolonged period of inf
Page 85 and 86:
on the fundamental sexual structure
Page 87 and 88:
CHAPTER THREE REARING THE burden of
Page 89 and 90:
is not enough for the infant's lips
Page 91 and 92:
mother, either instinctively or by
Page 93 and 94:
apid during the first two years of
Page 95 and 96:
onwards. It may even clasp on to he
Page 97 and 98:
unlike the verbal signals, they eme
Page 99 and 100:
mother's face and to distinguish he
Page 101 and 102:
oth frighteningly odd and at the sa
Page 103 and 104:
friendly, but if we greet them by l
Page 105 and 106:
We develop the vital bond of attach
Page 107 and 108:
andom and unco-ordinated. The cryin
Page 109 and 110:
CHAPTER FOUR EXPLORATION ALL mammal
Page 111 and 112: But the reverse is actually the cas
Page 113 and 114: are combined, one with another, to
Page 115 and 116: equired no reward-it was its own re
Page 117 and 118: Writing, a formalised offshoot of p
Page 119 and 120: and clothing, in furniture and cars
Page 121 and 122: contacts immensely difficult and wi
Page 123 and 124: epeatedly bite themselves, or pull
Page 125 and 126: on the other hand, of vital signifi
Page 127 and 128: in respiratory activity. Breathing
Page 129 and 130: under the extreme conditions of agg
Page 131 and 132: formalised into rhythmic twistings
Page 133 and 134: sdditional energy on it, and it is
Page 135 and 136: the grooming itself. Monkeys make g
Page 137 and 138: signal. (With the arm bent and held
Page 139 and 140: intensities of it are expressed in
Page 141 and 142: mechanisms. Many moths have a pair
Page 143 and 144: largely confined now to a form of s
Page 145 and 146: such a situation can be seen to per
Page 147 and 148: the policeman into a position of im
Page 149 and 150: attacker and his enemy, and it is t
Page 151 and 152: intelligence that must get us out.
Page 153 and 154: frequent accompaniment of wailing o
Page 155 and 156: of the `pomp and circumstance' will
Page 157 and 158: in profusion. This is usually expla
Page 159 and 160: personal acquaintances listed there
Page 161: grounds. It is a predominantly masc
Page 165 and 166: Another interpretation is that we h
Page 167 and 168: If they appeal to our old primate w
Page 169 and 170: disposal, we might be expected to r
Page 171 and 172: giving an impression of great conce
Page 173 and 174: the female can then fondle it and c
Page 175 and 176: is it aesthetically pleasing. Its f
Page 177 and 178: significance of the hair. In its re
Page 179 and 180: co-operativeness, specialised groom
Page 181 and 182: it is a strong dose of security tha
Page 183 and 184: If the environment becomes too cold
Page 185 and 186: CHAPTER EIGHT ANIMALS UP to this po
Page 187 and 188: prey-predator relationship, since i
Page 189 and 190: substitute space-traveller. No othe
Page 191 and 192: interferes with the efficient runni
Page 193 and 194: point of view, are fully justified
Page 195 and 196: small objects (chimpanzee, monkey,
Page 197 and 198: The unexpected discovery here is th
Page 199 and 200: on its back. It must be stressed he
Page 201 and 202: This cannot be explained solely on
Page 203 and 204: spiders being nasty, hairy things.
Page 205 and 206: symbolically, scientifically or aes
Page 207 and 208: tendencies; that if we have to beco
Page 209 and 210: Heart-beat response: Salk, 1966. Gr
Page 211 and 212: BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBROSE, J. A., `The s
Page 213 and 214:
MILES, W. R., 'Chimpanzee behaviour
Page 215:
Mimikry der Primaten'. Die Naturwis
show all

THE NAKED APE

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?