Wild Bees by James K. Baxter - 1218 Words

As people, we naturally â€Å"size people up,† or rather determine their value and treat them accordingly. If we come across someone with money or someone well known, we tend to determine that they have a higher value and place them on a high pedestal. Whereas, when we come across someone with noticeably less money seen in the way they dress, the type of house they live in, or what job they possess, and automatically assume their value is less, deeming them not as important as someone more well off. We essentially treat the wealthier better than the less fortunate. But what gives us the right to treat people differently? I ask the same questions while reading the â€Å"Wild Bees† by James K. Baxter. The poem addresses a group of boys†¦show more content†¦The issue of people defining another individual’s worth is conveyed through the boy’s defining the bee’s worth. Baxter describes how the bees appear to the boys stating the â€Å"wild bees , [are] swift as tigers, [with] gauzed wings a-glitter† (line 4) showing that the boys appreciate the beauty of the bees but find the bees strange and dangerous as well. Baxter goes on to write that the bees seemed to be in â€Å"passionless industry, clustering black at the crevice / Of a rotten cabbage tree† (lines 5-6). The phrasing â€Å"passionless industry† is metaphor comparing the bees to machines without emotions or feelings. In addition, the rotten cabbage tree symbolizes how the boys see the bee’s worth. The tree is considered unimportant due to its decaying and dying state, and therefore causes the bees to be determined as useless. The rotting tree even foreshadows that bees, too, shall join the tree in its festering state. After the boys determine that the bees were only machines, they assumed they had the right to kill them. The boys killing the bees show how the affects of devaluing a person, or in this case devaluing insects may manifest into violence. Violence is manifest after the boys decide the bees are nothing more than â€Å"passionless† machines. Likewise, once people determine that they are somehow superior they attempt to exert control over that object orShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesUniversity Jann Freed, Central College Crissie Frye, Eastern Michigan University Diane Galbraith, Slippery Rock University Carolyn Gardner, Radford University Janice Gates, Western Illinois University Ellen Kaye Gehrke, Alliant International University James Gelatt, University of Maryland University College Joe Gerard, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Matthew Giblin, Southern Illinois University Donald Gibson, Fairfield University Cindi Gilliland, The University of Arizona Mary Giovannini, Truman State