Humans, Bacteria and Darwin: The Wry Fate of Galapagos - Essay Sample

Introduction

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut is a novel that depicts the wry fate of humans. The story is told by Leon Trout, a ghost from a million years in the future. Ten human beings are hiding on an island after the spread of war between Ecuador and Peru. They are infected by bacteria that make females infertile, hence resulting in a distinction of the human race on earth. According to Charles Darwin, living species live and survive in an environment if they are well adapted (Williams, 2018).). In this case, the humans in the story were not well adapted to reproduce after the bacteria infection hence they could not reproduce. In Galapagos Kurt Vonnegut tries to explain what life is all about and how it works using the concepts of natural selection. The human race came to an end because they were not well adapted to live and reproduce on the uninhabited island of Galapagos.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Life is all about existence between human beings and the environment. Humans need the environment for several necessities such as air, food, shelter, medicines among others. Humans may engage in activities that make the environment hostile to their survival hence they need to control them. According to Pachauri et al, 2014 climate change has been recognized as the foremost environmental problem of the twenty-first century and has become a subject of considerable debate. If humans continue to degrade the environment, it will become hostile for their existence and may cause their extinction or evolution by natural selection (Vonnegut, 1985).

In Galapagos Natural selection is the only means possible for human beings ability to adapt and live. In the present world, there are a lot of malicious activities such as war, economic crisis, deaths, and pollution that decade in the environment. In Galapagos life works by Natural selection that brings to an end a malicious generation using a mysterious force. Humanity is unstable and there is a need for a solution to create another race that can co-exist peacefully. The main problem with human beings is their enlarged brain that pushes them to invent various technologies such as weapons to destroy each other. Using fiction Vonnegut tells of an evolved generation that will be peaceful and full of happiness. The evolution is predicted to take place in million years where humans will transform into sea lions. Although the creatures can walk upright they have flippers-like hands and fur. Moreover, they have a snout adapted for catching fish and their bodies are streamlined to swim (Vonnegut, 1895). The creatures have little to do, unlike the current generation that destroys the environment through construction and burning fossil fuel to produce electricity. Moreover, the novel predicts that only the creatures in the Galapagos Islands will possess these adaptations hence limiting those from another environment to survive. The environment is not safe for human survival due to deforestation, overpopulation, industrialization and factor human activities. All these activities threaten human ability to survive and reproduce and therefore in the next million years, the world will be uninhabitable. Thereafter, though the process of natural selection the humankind will evolve to sea-like animals where people will live without engaging in destructive activities. They would live in a beautiful land with coconut palms, white beaches, and blue lagoons. This land is full of peace and innocence and people do not cause harm to each other. People are happy and engage in relaxing activities such as playing and swimming. The law of natural selection applies to bring harmony between people and the environment (Williams, 2018).).

In the story, the natural selections have transformed dreadful human hands to flippers. Human hands make and use guns, weapons, bombs, grenades to destroy others. In the novel, the character such as Andrew MacIntosh, and Zenji Hiroguchi die of gunshot wounds (Vonnegut, 1895). Moreover, natural selection is also helping in the reduction of loss of lives by reducing the space of brains. In the next millions of years, people will not have bi heads that contain enlarged brain that they use to discover new machines such as Gorkubi and Mandarax. On the contrary, their heads are stream-lined limiting the space for discovery of activities for destruction. Mandarax and Gorkubi are used to translate languages because the current humankind speaks in various languages. Gorkubi can also diagnose different diseases like doctors by asking questions that lead to the discovery of illness. The adapted humans will only look out for sharks and whales. According to Vonnegut, the killer animals would be important to manage the population.

Fitness plays a significant role in the evolution of the characters in the novel because it increases their chances to survive. Fitness is also their ability to reproduce and continue surviving. They survive well in the present world people have to possess bi heads with enlarged brains to make machines and weapons. These people can invent machines that work as people, for instance, Andrew MacIntosh and Zenji Hiroguchi are computer genius who make machines that are used to diagnose diseases and translate languages (Canavan, 2016). Mary and Roy are not fit to work in the company because of their small brain which could not fit in the workplace. Similarly, when Matsumoto Corporation installed robots and computers only twelve employees could operate them making the other group unemployed. The humankind females were not fit for survival after the outbreak of bacteria that destroyed their ovaries (Vonnegut, 1895).

The characters such as Andrew MacIntosh and Zenji Hiroguchi are among guests Leon suggests they would die by sunset. According to Leon, there was no need to put a star on their foreheads, but they died after a million years which is symbolized by the sunset. They were not fit to survive and could not come back in the next life. The humans that are surviving after million years cannot develop the technology that their ancestors enjoyed since they have no hands. They are only fit in the construction of houses using their beaks since the hands are immobile (Vonnegut, 1895).

According to Vonnegut human operate under the laws natural selections unless they stop activities such as deforestation, industrialization, and environmental solution. They have to adjust according to the changes in the environment to increase their chances of survival. In the story, the mind of humans is small hindering them from discoveries technologies that would destroy the environment. The humans would not swim back to the ancestor's hand because the bacteria would make them infertile again. Humans have to follow the laws of natural selection to survive and reproduce (Canavan, 2016).

Concerning evolution, humans are headed to a dangerous environment because they continue to improve their intellect. Currently, humans have created robots that work as humans. The major concern is that the robots have no soul or brain to decide between right or wrong. They may cause massive destruction of lives and properties when working under no or minimal supervision. Moreover, humans will evolve to strong and their lifespan may also increase as they may become resistant to diseases such as cancer. Humankind is headed to a better lifestyle where they can use their skills and knowledge to improve their situation.

Global warming is one of the most threats facing the planet today. There have been many human and natural factors causing the climate to deteriorate. For instance, the increase in population has increased cars, factories, and power plants and they are changing the climate. For decades, humans have been burning massive quantities of these fossil fuels to power the global civilization and the developing technology. This causes an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because of the release of carbon dioxide trapped in the fuels in the form of energy-rich organic particles back into the atmosphere. It is predicted to lead to adverse, irreversible impacts oil earth and the ecosystem as a whole. Although it is difficult to connect specific weather events to global warming, increases in global temperatures have been predicted to cause broader changes, including glacial retreat, Arctic shrinkage, and worldwide sea-level rise (Pachauri et al, 2014). Another threat to human survival is the bioengineered pandemic that can kill many people. Bioengineered organisms such as fungi, viruses, and bacteria may be a pathogen to human forcing them to evolve. The current humankind can be forced to adapt to the changes that would occur as a result of such occurrences hence no need to be put on an island.

References

Williams, G. C. (2018). Adaptation and natural selection: A critique of some current evolutionary thought (Vol. 61). Princeton university press.

Canavan, G. (2016). After Humanity: Science Fiction after Extinction in Kurt Vonnegut and Clifford D. Simak. Paradoxa.Vonnegut, K. (1985). Galapagos. London: Flamingo. Print.

Pachauri, R. K., Allen, M. R., Barros, V. R., Broome, J., Cramer, W., Christ, R., ... & Dubash, N. K. (2014). Climate change 2014: synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (p. 151). IPCC.