Cannibalism: Crime or Survival? Essay

layaboutnibalism has g integrity by factor of stages of acceptance to m viva voce dispirit and unspeakable. When faced in a appalling situation, such as isolation and deterioration of the mind and body, cannibalism becomes an option of excerption of the fittest of the fittest. When people confess of their actions, is it fair for us to referee? What would a person do in that situation, and can one honestly punish a nonher for survival of the fittest? screwnibalism d ingests back as cold as the earliest signs of human life. By definition, cannibalism is the ingest of any species by a nonher member of the same species, (Cannibalism). Wolves, for modelling, testa manpowert eat some other brute if there is no other form of nutrition to be found. This is an example of survival of the fittest, an instinct born unto all living creatures. Cannibalism is primitive in human nature, dating back to the Carib Indians of the West Indies. In the Arwakan language, carib literally tr ans recentlys to cannibal. The shape of eating human meat, whether in ritual or punishment, has been practiced in nearly e very part of the world.The spring for cannibalistic conduct has alter among the people. Headhunters, for example, believed eating parts of a victims body would appropriate them magical powers. Some tribes ate criminals to punish them or gain retaliate for the abomination. Primitive rites commonly involved human hand, and it was not uncommon for the sacrifices family to eat certain parts of the body. This practice is labeled block removeocannibalism.As measure progressed, cannibalism went from common practice in the east to an unspeakable wickedness in the westerly. Cannibalism is most commonly practiced collect to the result of extremum physical necessity in isolated surroundings. It has been conscionableified as a model of behavior in feed surgerying as a response to nutritional stress, (Ellis et al. 4) Essentially, cannibalism in such desper ation comes spate to working logic. If one is starving, one eats whatis offered. Examples of this include survivors of a canvas clangoring quarantined with pop unit of ammunition out food boat wrecks on isolated islands or, more commonly, families detain in a snowstorm in any large muckle range.One of the most recent cases of cannibalism kn ingest is that of Andes flight disaster. In 1972, an Uruguayan rugby team, a yen with their family and friends, were on their style to Chile to compete when the plane crashed in the Andes mountain range. Several died in the initial crash, and more died due to the harsh conditions and injuries from the wreck. Ten geezerhood passed in the beginning the little bit of food that was rationed ran out. The conference lived for two months before rescue came, and in that date they had committed the unspeakable act. As a group, the survivors agreed to turn to cannibalism and endocannibalism in set up to survive. Out of the original forty-fi ve, only sixteen came from the mountains alive because of their survival technique. This group had indulged in what is called survival cannibalism.Survival cannibalism is an innate form of survival that anthropologists believe exists in all humans. When the rugby team was faced with their dire situation, they indulged on their native instinct to satisfy nutritional motif before abiding to the morals of society. When rescued, the team told reporters that it was a sort of communion they ate as little as possible so as not to desecrate the dead. Jesus gave the disciples His blood and His phase at the Last Supper, so we were unploughed alive through Him, explained one of the survivors when the press demanded an arrange as to what they ate to stay alive (Stranded Gonzalo Arijon). The Uruguayan and Chilean publics accepted these survivors, as yet though the media slandered them and called them inhumane and cannibalistic.Another, perhaps more famous case of survival cannibalism is the story of the Donner Party. The Donner Party was a group of families cosmos led west by brothers George and Jacob Donner in the winter of 1846-47. The unfortunate groups of pioneers were trapped in the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains because they did not foresee that they had strike off out too late in the year with too little provisions. The group traveled through the Great Plains, losing much of their cattle due to heat and famishment.As the group headed on, they left the warmth of the desert- deal plains and entered the cold and snow ofthe mountains. Their food supply dwindled as they act to make a pass through the Sierra Nevada range, their remain cattle became buried in the blizzard-like weather conditions, and many an(prenominal) wagons had to be abandoned. The society set up camp in a valley, hoping to wait out the storm and continue on. The wait off-key from a few days to weeks, then from weeks to months. The food supply ran out leather books, oxen mask blankets, and tobacco became a daily meal. Relief parties were sent form California, entirely they could not pursue everyone at once.If we do not find food, we willing begin to commence on the dead, earthd Tamsen Donner, wife of George Donner, when the scratch reserve party came to take her oldest children out of the mountains (Burton 166). Tamsen was left with five children and her nieces and nephews to feed as well. The party ran out of oxen hides and leather to eat. The only way a mother was to keep her children alive was to feed them the only food showtime available. C atomic number 18ful not to choose their relatives, members of the Donner Party ate the only food source available cadavers of those that had died. When presentd into the Californian society, the living members were shunned. Was it right of society to judge them so harshly? How could pioneers claim they would not do the same, when in pragmatism it is more probable that they would? Louis Keseberg, the last member of th e party to leave the mountains, was tried for polish off. The public should not have demanded that that a survivor of such perils be ostracized full for living.Another conflicting case is that of Alfred Alferd meat packer, dubbed Colorados Cannibal. bagger was a mountain guide in 1873 Colorado. He was hired to take a group of men through Bingham Canyon, Utah. This expedition did not end as planned. As with the Donner Party, Packer had not realized that his company had set out too late and would lead to a fatal end. many an(prenominal) men turned around when they were rescued from the cold by a group of Indians, but five remained with Packer. The men set of, no heeding the warnings from the Indians. 60 days after they left the campsite, only Packer emerged from the canyon. Questions arose to which Packer had no answer, so he lied. He told three versions of his story of survival, and only a few facts were found to be truth.Their food supply had run out andthe men agreed to eat w hoever died from starvation. Shannon Bell had killed the four other men while Packer was searching for food. Packer killed Bell due to self-defense, and Packer did not resort to cannibalism until starvation overtook his guilt for the deaths of his men. Alfred Packer was called a manslayer and sent to dawdle, even though he killed in self-defense. It was too quick of a decision to send this man, who was in a starved mindset, to a punishment in which he did not deserve. It is true that Packer was epileptic, and very possibly had several psychological problems, but that did not make him a killer. He was unspoiled trying to survive.Learned cannibalism is another category of cannibalistic behavior. It is when one is not driven by hunger to eat the flesh of another human. However, learned cannibalism is often thought of as the cause for Hannibal Lecter-style mop ups. Anthropologists disown that learned cannibalism is what such killers practiced it is a method of ritualistic behavio r that our human ancestors have passed down through generations. The Japanese army follow such rituals during their last war. Why did the army commit such a primitive act? Some men state it was to bring to sight together, to let up them nerves of steel, so to speak. Others claim it was to clear the taboo in case they ran out of food. Still, some say that it was because the soldiers wanted to gain the powers of the enemy, ripe as the headhunters had done so long ago.The Japanese military kept these cases filed out-of-door, not speaking of the ruthless acts the men committed. Now that the files have been uncovered, the fountainhead of whether or not this can be classified as a criminal offense moldiness be answered. With finding that answer comes more questions Which men atomic number 18 right? Were they really starving, or were they just soulless beings? Was murder enacted to pursue this activity, or were the men already dead? So many questions arise that it is nearly impossi ble to have a clear, truthful answer as to whether this was a war crime or not. The psychological reason behind cannibalistic behavior ranges from starvation to perversion.Cannibalism might be seen as the highest level of cozy perversion. This is closedownly related to the equally r be mould up of bodies, following sexual crimes and sadism, state psychologists when asked if cannibalism can be considered a true crime, or if it is just a taboo of occidental coating (Capraro Cannibalism is not a Crime). Cannibalism isnt listed as a crimethe only trespasses a person can be tried for are manslaughter and rape. There is no sentencing to accompany the cutting up or eating of the body. Some people say that cannibalism should be labeled as murder. What if it was not murder that was committed? The custom of the sea dictates that, when a boat is crashed or stranded, survivors are to rely on the dead for food. There is no murder involved if the dead had come to be so due to essential caus es. gild has become engrossed with stories of cannibals, murderers, and rapists. People gossip and read in depth about such crimes, feasting on the horrible tales which western culture has only read in stories from Edgar Allen Poe and the like. But what about when it happens in their own culture, to people on their own street? One scream sticks out when cannibalism comes up Armin Meiwes. The case of German native Meiwes is tricky because he could not be sentenced since cannibalism is rarely committed in at presents western culture and is not classified as a crime in Germany. Meiwess victim, Bernd Brandes, a man who was in a sexual relationship with Meiwes, had conceded to be killed and eaten by Meiwes.Meiwes could only be convicted for killing upon gather up and disturbing the peace of the dead (i.e. eating the body instead of bury it). Meiwes admits to being a true cannibal, and is acceptance of his branding as a murderer. But cannibalism does not always involve murder. Brandes consented to having part of him cut off and eaten, indeed leaving him alive, and then later asked to be killed and consumed. Meiwes will be forever classified as psychotically disturbed and sexually perverse for his lean on cannibalism.Society is unacceptable of cases such as Armin Meiwes simply because of the fearful act that is involved. The public demands stronger sentencing, or the death penalty as an eye-for-an-eye repayment. Cannibalism has been passed down through generations around the world, and as time has progressed it has become an ugly, horrible act. Yet, we are obsessed with learning about it. The famous book Hannibal by doubting Thomas Harris spawned movies and general interest in the acts that the main character committed. Harris also gives the horizon of why cannibalism happens. Most cases of cannibalism occur from a deep psychological problem. maybe the person who committed the act isextreme obsessive-compulsive and cannot stand to have a mess so, eating th e body disposes of the mess and clears the act from the mind. As a child, the cannibal may not have had a strong relationship with their same sex parent and developed an over-dependent relationship with the opposite word parent or a sibling.Such as Armin Meiwes, who had no evident male figure in his life, consuming the flesh of someone he was close to was a way of keeping the person close to himself forever. As stated before, cannibalism can be seen as the highest level of sexual perversion, therefore many of Freuds theories on oral fixation and sexual belligerence can provide a possible explanation of the thought process of cannibalistic people. The perpetrator of the behavior is fixated on sexual pleasure resulting from the mouth. He or she enjoys the acts of sucking, biting, and chewing, often resulting in a need to have something incessantly in his or her mouth. The way cannibalism fits in is that the act of eating another human is on a high level of sexual aggressiveness. T he orally fixated person gets pleasure from eating another human, both sexually and orally. many a(prenominal) people who have been convicted of murder and the act of cannibalism have shown to eat those close to them. Either it is a companion, a lover, or a relative that is being consumed. The logical thinking behind this is that the consumer wants to remain close to whomever it is for as long as possible, and when that person dies, the consumer sees eating them as a way of reincarnation because he or she is becoming a part of the consumer, thus their life continues. Obviously, this way of thinking is psychotically disturbing and when a person is convicted of such acts, they are station into an institution for the mentally disturbed. Can we send a person to jail for committing cannibalism even though they are psychologically unstable? Or do we take the risk of sending them to an institution to be fixed, and slowly reintroduce them to society? The world pretends to be blind of such acts and prefers to shut away those who do them. This is not taking care of the problem. Yes, the world of the 1800s chose to shut their eyeball against the survival techniques of the Donner Party, but that did not solve the issue of how to deal with the survivors.Survivors of such a tragic incident must slowly be reintroduced into the world. They should not feel that the world is an unsafe place just because they survived. People who volitionally commitcannibalism need to see the wrongs of what they did. On the other hand, people need to see why they did it in order to fully understand the reasoning. What the western culture claims is a taboo, the African culture deems it a ritualistic rite. Today, cannibalism has been turned into a sort of joke. In the cartoons, when two men are stranded on an island, one sees the other and imagines him as a big, juicy steak, thus invoking a chase of sorts. Is that not what happens when two people truly are stranded and starving? The custom of t he sea states that when a boat is wrecked, the survivors must be willing to eat whatever is available, even if it is one another.Society does not realize that jokes, shows, and books influence the thoughts of everybody. Many times people will say in a joking matter that he tasted just like chicken, when referring to the eating of one another. In reality, people who make these jokes may someday be faced with the survival of living or dying, and the factor in that will keep them alive is eating the person who tastes just like chicken. As disturbing as that thought may be, it is true. Humans first reaction in life or death situations is to preserve their own lives. When it comes to women in motherhood, they prefer to save their childrens lives first. If a family is faced with the barrier of living or dying, such as the Donner Party families, their first choice is going to be to live. A mother wants her children to live, to experience life, even if that means do anything possible to survive. If the family must resort to cannibalism, is it a crime? Can the human race look down upon one another just for surviving? It would be ludicrous to believe that people should be abolished just because they chose to live instead of succumbing to death.When boiled down, Cannibalism is essentially only in two categories survival cannibalism and learned cannibalism. The intrinsic side of modern Homo sapiens deals with survival cannibalism and justifies its cause. The moral side of the human mentality cannot fathom the reasoning behind learned cannibalism. Why the ancestors began that tradition is a mystery story. Was it first started from starvation? Did the first Homo sapiens not find food and inflexible to turn on one another? Or was it because of their belief in magic, the belief that humans contained magical powers and by digesting their flesh they absorbed the powers unto themselves? This mystery will remain unsolved, just as the mystery of who started the oral legends in Native American cultures. The reasoning behind societys outlaws of cannibalism, eithersurvival or learned, is another mystery, yet it is one that can be solved. In native cultures, such as the Caribs, cannibalism was an everyday ordeal.As time progressed, people on the western hemisphere of the world chose to become more sophisticated. This involved the abolishing of all other cultural practices, from the clothes that were worn to the rituals that were participated in. Christianity was taught throughout the world, and cannibalism fell into the gray area of sins. Only anthropologists understood the need for converge into the act of survival cannibalism, and saw the importance of understanding why it was a ritual so long ago.The society that is shown cannibalistic behavior today is horrified by it because the behavior had not been practiced for so long that even the survival technique became unspeakable. Cannibalism started out as a ritual, a rite of sorts that was common to enga ge in. Then it moved into a state of survival, a technique only used when one is faced with death. Now, it is considered a perverse, revolting taboo that is blasphemed and blown out of proportion by media. Can one really take an opinion on this? Who can honestly, without a doubt, know for a fact that he or she would not turn to cannibalistic behavior when confronted with starvation? No one can give an honest answer to that question until they have been put in the situation. The brain switches from living by the standards of society to the survival instinct possessed by all living creatures. In all honesty, we are no divergent from the wolves that will eat a member of the pack in order to live.Works CitedBurton, Gabrielle. Impatient with Desire The Lost Journal of Tamsen Donner. New York Hyperion, 2010.Cannibalism. Comptons by Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005 ed.Capraro, Ingo. Cannibalism not a crime. News24. 14 Dec 2002. Ellis, Meredith A.B. et al. The mite of Starvation A Comparison of Bone Processing at a Chinese Encampment in Montana and the Donner Party Campin California. July 2010. U of Montana College of Arts and Sciences. Stranded Ive Come From A Plane That Crashed on the Mountains. Dir. Gonzalo Arijon. Pro. Gonzalo Arijon. 2007. Zeitgeist video, 2008. DVD.