Who Is Montaigne's Of Cannibals?

Montaigne’s Of Cannibals as a World Literature Concept

“And sin, young man is when you treat people like things.” In Terry Pratchett’s Carpe Jugulum, the essence of Montaigne’s works that aided in solidifying the Humanist movement of the late Renaissance era through the questioning of ideas and the self-awareness of the French populous, has seeped into modern day literature as a foundation for varying world works. Among his essays, Of Cannibals presents a unique and intriguing view of the Cannibalistic people in modern day Brazil that challenges the 1500’s European mindset by portraying the ‘barbarians’ as more human then Europeans of the time. Throughout the work, Montaigne directly challenges the social infrastructure by demoting the superiority

He begins by emphasizing repeatedly the pure values of the culture seen in the new world, “the former retain alive and vigorous their most useful and natural, virtues and properties.” These properties are similar to the example given about the natural cycle in the previous paragraph. They follow a natural course that Mother Nature intended for all creatures to follow, they do not go against the grain, which serves them by making them less barbaric then European society. Montaigne shortly after goes on to write, “These nations, then, seem to me barbarous in this sense, that they have been fashioned very little by the human mind, and are still very close to their original naturalness […] are in such a state of purity that I am sometimes vexed that they were unknown earlier.” This statement supports that Montaigne is paying tribute to the barbarians as he delves into discussing how great philosophers such as Plato and Lycurgus could not know of such a pure and unaltered state. His awe for them compels him to wish for some of the world’s greatest minds so they could experience the ‘utopia’ better than “They could imagine.” The cannibal’s pure and natural state resonates profoundly with Montaigne. In addition, Montaigne mentions that “The very words that signify lying, treachery, dissimilation, avarice, envy, belittling, pardon-[are] unheard of.” If a society or culture lacks this demeaning structure, it eradicates the hierarchal structure and puts all members on a level playing field. No one is above you, and no one is below you. This novel concept, practiced by the cannibals is influential in the course of Montaigne’s work as the support for these ‘barbarians’ and their naturalistic way of life. In Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon a mentally retarded man undergoes an experimental