Nature
Straley reports, “William Wordsworth’s Boy of Winander, “Stand[ing] alone/Beneath the trees or by the glimmering lake” and blowing “mimic hootings to the silent owls, /That they might answer him,” seems to represent at least a century’s thinking about childhood. The sensitive, solitary boy from Wordsworth’s Prelude (1805) enjoys the sublimity of the landscape and the prospect of communication with other animals because he is a child and therefore natural and animal-like himself.”
Nature, which comprises animals and vegetation are perfect companions for children. The poem in Wordsworth’s poem derives pleasure from the nature that surrounds him, and such interaction involves the intersection between childhood and animals, both epitomes of sublimity and innocence. The child understands the message that nature relays to him.
“Struggle for Existence”
Straley expounds, "Though Darwin ultimately discarded this theory of volitionally acquired characteristics in favour of natural selection, the "struggle for existence" that he described seemed to justify-to capitalists like Andrew Carnegie, for example-cutthroat market competition similarly capable of levelling traditional economic and social hierarchies."
The concept of "struggle for existence" drives the evolution of humanity. The struggle contributes to the formation of hierarchies that rank individuals subject to their capacities of coping with the environment changes. Accordingly, social hierarchies are based on different levels of fitness. Struggle shapes social structures such that the fittest have higher odds of survival.
Eugenics
Straley explains, “Francis Galtin, Darwin’s cousin, coined the term “eugenics” in 1883 as part of a project to save the English race from its own worst degenerative tendencies. By constructing elaborate genealogies of eminent families and encouraging bachelors and bachelorettes to choose only spouses from family trees of pure instances of insanity, criminality, and degeneration, Galton hope to improve future generations.”
Eugenics would increase the chances of bearing kids with desirable traits. Eugenics empowers women by giving them the power of selecting their mates. Galtin considered eugenics a remedy to the deterioration of the English race. For him, humanity is defined by hereditary biological traits. In the modern days, Eugenics would be compared to the reproduction technologies that permit parents to select traits of their children before they are conceived and born.
"Animal songs”
Straley expounds, “As an anthology of animal songs-where a wolf, monkey, seal, grasshopper, horse, camel, elephant, and kite enjoy extended solos- The Jungle books textually replicate Mowgli’s own cumulative recapitulation of animal identities… Much of The Jungle Books’ verses are lullabies, anthems, and hunting songs designed for ritualized repetition.”
The animals’ identities in the book are contributory to accentuating the materiality of animals in human lives especially children. Animals are personified because they are given the ability to sing like animals.
