Montaigne

Michel De Montaige was a compassionate honest man.  His essays remain a legacy of unflinching soul searching and wide eyed analysis of the world around him.  His most well-known essay “Of Cannibals” is perhaps the best example of his liberal and empathetic approach to the world.  In it hes describes a culture utterly foreign to his own, and manages to keep intact his own dignity and the dignity of the people he is describing.  Although the tribe of natives that Montaigne describes eat the flesh of their enemy and hold their “combats, which never end but in slaughter and bloodshed”, he finds their overall culture praiseworthy (1656).  “This is a nation… in which there is no traffic, no knowledge of letters, no science of numbers, no name for magistrate or political superiority, no customs of servitude, no riches or poverty, no contracts, no successions, no partitions, no agriculture, no metal, no use of wine or wheat.  The very words that signify lying treachery dissimulation, avarice, envy, belittling, and pardon- unheard of” (1654).   He goes on to describe the structure of the society, the expected activities of the day.  He calls attention to the equality of the people, the respect given to warriors, the role of wives.  While he finds some activities distasteful, namely the cannibalism, he considers it no greater a sin then those committed by his countrymen.  He believes “there is nothing barbarous and savage in that nation, from what I have been told, except what each man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice; for indeed it seems we have no other test of truth and reason than the example and pattern of the opinions and customs of the country we live in” (1653).  Montaigne is willing to look beyond his own customs and admit that his own country has not cornered the market on right.

I tried to think of all the cultures I personally find barbaric.  I think people who practice female circumcision are barbaric.  I think countries that deny all access to outside information are barbaric.  I think countries that still practice stoning are barbaric.  I’m not appalled by these cultures at large, but I chose these particular atrocities for a reason; these acts are not crimes committed by individuals- these acts are culturally sanctioned and institutionalized.     I find these aspects of a culture to be barbaric because I think the world culture at large can agree that these things are wrong.  These acts hurt people, destroy quality of life and create a culture of fear and intimidation.  To borrow a line from “The West Wing” these cultures aren’t our “quirky little ally whose culture it's important to be tolerant of. They're not wearing wooden shoes” (Game On).  There are some things (many things) I find weird or off putting about other cultures (I’m looking at you Japan, with your creepy used underwear vending machines) but I don’t find those cultures barbarous- just odd.  It’s when a culture creates pain and suffering that I begin to judge.

Works Cited

                Montaigne, Michel De. Essays.  The Norton Anthology of World Literature: New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2013.  1647-1664. Print.

                “Game On”.  The West Wing: Complete Collection. Aaron Sorkin & Paul Redford.  Dir. Alex Graves.  Warner Brothers.  2006.  DVD.