In my paper, Thomas Nagel’s essay "What is it like to be a bat?" will be discussed in connection with Emily Dickinson’s poem "The bat is dun, with wrinkled wings" and D. H. Lawrence’s poem "Man and Bat". Furthermore, I want to prove in how far Nagel’s basic ideas can be found in these two different poems.
Thomas Nagel’s basic idea is that there are some experiences that cannot be fully explained, that human experience can only be subjective and that scientists, though they try to analyse things, cannot explain everything. In his essay "What is it like to be a bat?" he gives the example of persons who are blind from birth. Therefore, they will never experience, e.g. the colours of flowers because they have never seen them. As well as we do not know the experiences of a blind person, we will never be able to understand a bat, even if we know how their sonar system works.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Thomas Nagel's Essay What is it like to be a bat?
- Emily Dickinson's Poem The bat is dun, with wrinkled wings
- Characterisation of the Bat
- The Bat as a Mystical Animal
- D. H. Lawrence's Poem Man and Bat
- The Narrator's Reaction to the Bat
- The Battle between Man and Bat
- The Narrator's Dilemma
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This paper aims to discuss Thomas Nagel's essay "What is it like to be a bat?" in connection with Emily Dickinson's poem "The bat is dun, with wrinkled wings" and D. H. Lawrence's poem "Man and Bat." The main objective is to demonstrate how Nagel's fundamental ideas about the limitations of human understanding and the subjective nature of experience are reflected in these two poems.
- The limitations of human understanding and the subjective nature of experience
- The human perception of bats as creatures of the night and their associated symbolism
- The relationship between humans and animals, particularly in terms of empathy and understanding
- The use of poetic language to explore and convey complex ideas and emotions
- The role of the poet in interpreting and understanding the natural world
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The paper begins by introducing Thomas Nagel's essay "What is it like to be a bat?" and his argument that certain experiences, such as those of a bat, cannot be fully understood by humans due to the limitations of our own subjective experience. The paper then delves into Emily Dickinson's poem "The bat is dun, with wrinkled wings," analyzing its portrayal of the bat as a mystical and enigmatic creature with both positive and negative qualities. The poem's use of imagery, symbolism, and poetic devices is examined to demonstrate Dickinson's exploration of the bat's unique nature and the challenges of understanding it from a human perspective.
D. H. Lawrence's poem "Man and Bat" is then explored as a personal narrative that reflects the narrator's initial disgust and fear of the bat, followed by a gradual shift towards a more conciliatory and even humorous understanding of the creature. The paper discusses how the narrator's subjective experience, his limited understanding of the bat's perspective, and his evolving relationship with the animal illustrate Nagel's central ideas about the limitations of human perception.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The main keywords and focus topics of the paper include: Thomas Nagel, "What is it like to be a bat?", Emily Dickinson, "The bat is dun, with wrinkled wings," D. H. Lawrence, "Man and Bat," subjective experience, human perception, bat symbolism, empathy, animal poetry, poetic language, and the limitations of understanding.
- Quote paper
- Judith Leitermann (Author), 2013, Animal Poetry. "The Bat is dun, with wrinkled Wings" and "Man and Bat" in connection with Thomas Nagel’s essay "What is it like to be a bat?", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/337915
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