¶ … Maldive Shark, by Herman Melville. Specifically, it will contain answers to the following questions: How do the shark and pilot fish define the organization of nature? What influence might Darwin have had on such a view? Also, explain the "friendship" between the creatures. If beauty exists, what is it for? What is the benefit of life?

THE MALDIVE SHARK

The shark and the pilot fish work in tandem. The shark leaves the pilot fish alone, because the pilot fish leads the shark to prey, and the pilot fish lives near the shark in safety because it knows the shark will not harm it. This could be called a form of "team work," and Darwin would see it as such, and part of nature's plan in the natural selection process, which illustrates "survival of the fittest." The pilot fish adapted to survive by helping the shark. In nature, many plants and animals are reliant on others for their continued survival, so the relationship between the shark and the pilot fish is not unusual. On the contrary, for a species to survive, they must adapt to their ever-changing surroundings, and the pilot fish has clearly done this, and now resides comfortably with the shark.

The pilot fish and the shark are "friends" in that they share the same "neighborhood," but they are animals, and thus do not recognize the friendship, what they recognize is survival, and they each rely on the other to survive. The beauty of the relationship is that somehow they figured out what the other needed, and a way to provide it, while still surviving. It is a beautiful thing in nature that allows animals to help and nurture each other without really recognizing the fact. The benefit of life is living, which is much preferable to being eaten by the "great maw" of the shark. Another benefit is the ability to pass on the learned knowledge of survival to progeny, thereby lengthening the lifespan of the species.