SPES Paragraph

Jessica Hennings

Hunting animals is not morally or ethically correct. Some may argue that the animals are there
for us to hunt and kill them for sport or for food, but that area was those animals’ territory before
we had arrived. Animals were around before humans were, which means it is cruel to be killing
them right off of their land; it just is not morally right. The animals weren’t doing anything to
humans, just trying to live their lives and not be shot by humans. Furthermore, hunting is
causing harm to innocent creatures. Animals have rights, too, even if they can’t speak for
themselves, and it is morally not right to kill innocent animals. A way to prove this using “The
Most Dangerous Game” is by showing how the two hunters at the beginning of the story were
arguing about if Jaguars had an understanding of the fact that they were being hunted. They
came to the conclusion that the animals weren’t going to know that they were being hunted.
“‘Who cares how a jaguar feels?’ ‘Perhaps the jaguar does,’ observed Whitney. ‘Bah! They've
no understanding.’ ‘Even so, I rather think they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain and
the fear of death’”(Connell 6). These two characters talk about how the jaguar feels, such as the
fear of pain and death, and these animals aren’t given a choice when they are being hunted and
don’t understand what is going on when that is happening, which shows how it is not right
morally and ethically to hunt animals. They might also fear death just as humans do but, unlike
humans, don’t know when they could potentially be shot and killed because of a hunter, which is
not morally correct. In conclusion, hunting animals is not morally correct, because the animals
were there first and have rights too, as well as they don’t understand what is going on when
they are being hunted and may have the fear of pain and death just as humans do but can’t
express it when they are being hunted and killed, proving how it just isn’t morally right to hunt
animals.