Throughout the novel Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje, there are numerous instances of humans, mostly men, displaying their nature animal rather than their human nature which sets them apart from other animals, especially since one of the major themes of the entire novel is the comparison between foreigners and native islanders and the difference between civilization and nature to large scale. Thus, through the passage from the Golden Book, Ondaatje uses symbols, hyperboles and images in order to demonstrate the fact that every human being, no matter how civilized, has an animal nature within him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay When introducing the Golden Book, Ondaatje uses symbols related to the Golden Book in order to demonstrate the fact that it There is an animal nature in everyone. More specifically, throughout this passage Ondaatje develops the idea that this whole feud simply represented the evolution of information and media in developed countries, which, at the height of their conflicts, best represented nature animal of people. When the conflict is first presented, Ondaatje refers to it as his "father waging war with...a close relative of the eventual Prime Minister of Ceylon" (Ondaatje 151). Not only does he refer to it as being so extreme as to be "waging war", but he also makes a key note about Sammy's position and rank in society at the time. Ondaatje uses this symbol of the two rich, high class men going to war with each other to symbolize the press and how there is constant conflict between important people, but more importantly to symbolize the animal nature of Sammy and Mervyn after having created a war for a Golden Book. Moreover, later in the passage, as the "war" intensified, "pages continued to be torn out, ruining a good archival history of two semi-prominent families of Ceylon" (Ondaatje 152). Their literary war goes so far as to ruin a historic relationship between their two families, but Ondaatje also uses it as a symbol for modern media. The fact that this simple conflict was enough to separate two families was just Ondaatje's attempt to symbolize the horrific effects of an all-out war against the press and media, both of which ultimately show the animal nature of these two elite men who otherwise appear to be human beings. completely civilized people. Finally, the fact that “the literary war broke so many codes” was another attempt by Ondaatje to symbolize the animal nature of these two men and the conflict of which they were a part (Ondaatje 152). The war between them, by this point, had escalated so much that it was seen as breaking even the codes of normal wars, symbolizing what Ondaatje thought about the nature of humanity in general. Thus, these symbols were used by Ondaatje in order to present the fact that humanity still has an animal nature inside that can reveal itself in times like this. Additionally, Ondaatje uses vivid imagery throughout the Golden Book passage in order to highlight the emphasis that humans are essentially animal in nature. At the start of the conflict highlighted in this passage, the kinds of things Sammy and Mervyn wrote in the guest books were nothing short of extreme, starting with "complaining about everything from the service to the poorly prepared drinks..." the way to “…a page and a half of vindictive prose, dropping hints of madness and incest” (Ondaatje 151). The imagery used to depict the conflict and the actions of both men isso strong that it seems unreal, and yet it is specifically created this way by Ondaatje in order to illustrate the madness in which these two men find themselves. Thus, Ondaatje uses this very expressive and extreme imagery to illustrate how these men were becoming equally extreme due to their inner animal natures taking over. Later in the passage, as the conflict begins to reach unsustainable levels, Ondaatje describes the situation in which “pages [have] to be ripped out of the visitors' bullshit. Ultimately, one wrote about the other even when the other was far from the other” (Ondaatje 152). The striking language and imagery used by Ondaatje in this extract highlighted not only the seriousness of the two men's situation, but also the extent to which they had lost their human aspects and had completely followed their animal nature and instincts, leading to a such a state of mind. dangerous situation. Thus, Ondaatje not only uses vivid imagery to show the extent to which these men manifested their animal nature over their human nature, but also to communicate how dangerous the situation is when people resort to their animal nature. uses hyperbole throughout the Golden Book passage in order to establish the fact that all people have a fundamental animal nature within them, which, on a fundamental level, defines the way they act. When Ondaatje presents the conflict that sparked the quarrel, he writes that “it was during his travels by road that my father waged war against a certain Sammy Dias Bandaranaike” (Ondaatje 151). Although this whole conflict is simply an issue between the two men themselves, and each has written bad comments about the other, it is being talked about as a war from Ondaatje's perspective and is therefore exaggerated. greatly in an effort to dramatize the implications of this conflict. Ondaatje ultimately uses this hyperbole as a method to more meaningfully present the fact that humans, at their core, operate based on an animal nature. Later in the passage, as the conflict escalated, “Sammy left first, wrote half a page about my father… My father wrote a page and a half of vindictive prose about the Bandaranaike family” (Ondaatje 151 ). The two begin to escalate the conflict to new heights on a much more personal level, which was also completely unwarranted considering where the actual conflict originated. The real effect that Ondaatje produced with this hyperbole, however, was to illustrate the animal nature of the decisions and actions taken by Sammy and Mervyn, in order to emphasize that despite their civilization, there was no escape to action based on civilization. about their animal nature and instinct, which pushed them to do what they did. Finally, near the end of the passage, when Ondaatje reflects on the effects of the literary war that occurred, he comments that "the war ended when neither Sammy... nor my father were allowed to write down their impressions of a stay or a meal… “Constructive criticism” dates from this period” (Ondaatje 152). The effect of both men's actions was to mute them in order to prevent the war from continuing. Ondaatje uses this hyperbole to comment not only on the fact that men were so bestial in their actions by their nature, but also that it was so destructive that they had to be completely mute. What Ondaatje is trying to present at the end of this passage is not only that humans are fundamentally animal in nature, but also that the way civilization deals with this problem is to completely mute these aspects of people until until they actually disappear..