Writing and Such: English Class Essay:Literary Analysis Essay

MaKenzie Beck

July 16th, 2014

Literary Analysis Essay

The Power of Point of View

A Literary Analysis Essay of: “They’re Made Out of Meat”

“What in the world am I reading” was the first thought that came to mind as my eyes traveled across the black words that contrasted a white background, but as I continued to read I felt my facial muscles flex into a smile and I could not take my eyes from the conversation unfolding before me. “They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson is, as I quickly discovered, an enjoyable short story about the seemingly excruciating difficulties two extraterrestrial beings face when dealing with other life forms. This story is original and entertaining because the author chose to highlight certain literary components to let the reader witness a different perspective. The key literary component in “They’re Made Out of Meat” is the point of view, because without this element the story would lack its captivating originality.

“They’re Made Out of Meat” is a clever short story about the dilemma aliens face when dealing with humans for the first time, but what makes this story alluring is that it is presented from the unique point of view of aliens. The story by Terry Bisson is about two extraterrestrial beings discussing, as one explains to the other, the unusual characteristics of humans and then the issue of whether or not, to make further contact. "Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?" (Terry Bisson), with this quote, one is able to understand how the human race is perceived by the aliens: humans have the ability to think, love and dream, but in the end they are still just meat. This helps the reader understand the limited and somewhat discriminate view the aliens have of humans and sets up the platform for the alien’s conflict to respond to the humans’ effort to make extraterrestrial contact. As the conversation of these two extraterrestrial beings continues, the reader comes to understand that this specific race of aliens are quite intelligent and have taken a scientific approach to discovering various life forms throughout the universe, so when the race made of meat is discovered the aliens decide that "Officially, we are required to contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing." (Bisson). With this thought these aliens decide that the meat, unlike other life forms of the universe, is not worth the time and effort that can be used elsewhere and thus take the initiative and disregard all information pertaining to the meat and their planet. The aliens point of view towards humans in this story presents a new, enjoyable, outlook to how humans may appear and present the theme of not judging based on prejudices.

“They’re Made Out of Meat” is a compelling story because the point of view is presented through the dialogue of the two narrative characters. When analyzing the point of view it is important to note that point of view is “the position of the narrator in relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator's outlook fromwhich the events are depicted and by the attitude toward the characters.” That is, point of view is the attitude the story’s narrator has towards his connection to the story and how he sees characters and events. A point of view is often formed by the beliefs and past experiences of the narrator. The narrators in “They’re Made Out of Meat” have their opinions about the humans based on their own history of growing up alien and developing beliefs from their cultural elements. The author used the alien’s point of view in this story as a literacy tool to, in a sense, persuade the reader to see through the alien’s eyes by having the aliens be present and speak in first person form. The use of dialogue in “They’re Made Out of Meat” gives the reader an “eavesdroppers” insight, meaning there is no actual description of location or appearances, but enough information is given to infer a Sci-Fi setting and understand the narrators’ limited and biased point of view. In their conversation one alien explains to the other the unique makeup of the humans they have examined, "You're not understanding, are you? You're refusing to deal with what I'm telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat." (Bisson). The use of point of view in this story is entertaining, but I do not find myself emotionally affected by how the story is conversationally brought about mainly because I do not find the idea of the alien narrators to be credible, thus it is simply and enjoyable story.

In the extremely entertaining short story “They’re Made Out of Meat” by Terry Bisson, the point of view is the most useful literary too, because it has the ability to engage the reader with its use of first person present tense, and convince the reader to be open minded and to see the story unfold through the filter of the alien characters eyes. The point of view helps the reader appreciate the theme of not being prejudice, enjoy the opinions of the alien characters and understand the inferred extraterrestrial setting. In his story Bisson, used point of view to help his readers enjoy a charming story about how alien life forms first view humans and then the perplexity of how to deal with them. But Bisson was also able to individualize the extraterrestrial characters and the difficult situations to a point that the reader has the ability to, without realizing, relate to the characters. I believe it is safe to say that without Terry Bisson’s use of point of view in “They’re Made Out of Meat”, the story would not be as entertaining as it is.