European Images Animals Some of the Practical

European Images Animals

Some of the practical reasons Europeans may have had for paying attention to the animals of the New Word may have been, first of all, so that they could get an idea about what kind of place they were traveling to and, second, that they maybe could have gotten an idea about the type of people inhabiting the land by looking at the animals. It can be argued that people associate if a place is going to be brutal or wild by the types of animals living in an environment. For example, when one thinks about Africa they may think of lions, jaguars and alligators -- among other more vicious types of animals. They may look at the terrain and think that an animal must be powerful in order to survive in a certain environment. If the Europeans looked at pictures of the animals in the New World and saw horses, cattle, and ducks, they may have been more likely to think that the New World was suitable for civilization or that, based on the animal life, it would be easier to civilize or tame the land. If they were familiar with the types of animals they may see the New World as not being quite so foreign and may view it more like their own home (i.e. friendly).

If the Europeans were to look at the pictures of animals and see brutal and ferocious images, they may have associated the people with these characteristics as well. They might have believed that in order for people to live in a land with those types of creatures the people themselves would have to be ferocious. On the other hand, if they were to see images of farm animals and peaceful forest animals they might think that man living among these animals were also of a peaceful nature.

The Europeans' perceptions of animals may have affected their interest in colonizing a particular region of the New World based on terrain and landscape. A terrain that was comprised of lush forests and tranquil lakes may appear more inviting than a harsher landscape that appears dry and rougher. They may associate the peaceful image of lakes and trees with tranquility and an easier life as opposed to harsher images that may appear completely foreign to them.

One of the reasons that early European explorers may have created images of animals with anthropomorphic features or qualities would be to illustrate certain types of human behavior. Conversely, they may have wanted to give creatures certain human-like motivations. In the first case (i.e. wanting to illustrate certain types of human behavior), explorers may have been making a comment on either the way individuals act. If humans of the region behaved in ways that were seen as foreign, brutal or strange, the explorers may have depicted them using animal qualities or characteristics to show just how foreign it was to them. On the other hand, they may have been showing as well how certain animals seem to be motivated much in the same way humans are. They may have found certain animals to be especially human-like (perhaps in much the same way people today tend to humanize our domestic pets).