Compare and contrast Essay

Running head: POTEMKIN AND THE HEART OF A DOG 1

POTEMKIN AND THE HEART OF A DOG 7

Comparing and Contrasting Potemkin and the Heart of a Dog

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Comparing and Contrasting Potemkin and the Heart of a Dog

Introduction

There is a significant difference between human beings and animals, particularly regarding their mental state and social interactions. Furthermore, human beings can speak for themselves when wronged against, while animals do not possess the same ability to speak up against injustices committed against them. Looking at the "Potemkin movie," one finds a group of sailors who feel hard done by the decision to offer them rotten meat for dinner and tried to ignite a revolution to protest against the imperialist rulers' actions. In the same breath, "The Heart of a Dog" novel narrates about a dog who went through difficulties starting from having boiling water poured on him to undergoing surgery meant to change his animal being into a human being with predesigned communist ideals. The relationship between the two highlighted works is the authorities' visible desire to have firm control over citizens through science in "The heart of a Dog" and strong-arm tactics in Potemkin. The example in "Heart of a Dog" is the rulers' desire to change a dog into a human being whom the former intended to instill communist ideals. The other example in Potemkin film is about rulers who have little regard for the citizens' plight, such as offering rotten foods to the sailors, and seemingly not seeing anything wrong with that action. The two works address a problem regarding class conflict involving the rulers and the citizenly. The rulers want to dominate the ruled with no respect for the latter's rights to dignity and make choices.

In my view, the central theme in Potemkin, the "Heart of a Dog," is that the authorities were hell-bent on having every person under control. Regardless of the two highlighted strategies used by the rulers, the main aim was to control everyone under the imperial ruler's jurisdiction and have everyone thinking in the same manner. Consequently, the highlighted rulers' central theme was to instill their ideals to the populace through genetic manipulation or outright intimidations and threats.

Class conflict refers to the struggle or antagonism between two different people based on social-economic and political standings. The class struggle occurs due to huge discrepancies between the rich and the majority of low-income earners. In the two cited works, there is a visible shared vision regarding the class conflict. For instance, officers in Potemkin believe that the only way to have the sailors obeying is by employing brutal force, including invoking death on the latter. In the rulers' minds, there is nothing unbecoming when sailors eat rotten meat. Equally important, the ship's doctor epitomizes the ruler's minds by stating that the meat was not rotten because "it has no worms, but only maggots and the sailors can wash them out with brine (All soviet movies on RVISION, 2016)." Again, the doctor's statement shows the significant gap that existed between the people in positions of authority and the common populace, whereby the imperial rulers held little or no regard to their citizen's plight and interest.

Reading through "The Heart of a Dog" reveals the huge obsession by the communists to create human beings who subscribed to their ideas. In this regard, the writer eloquently states that the rulers could go to any lengths in their quest to have their citizens embrace their communists' thoughts (Bulgakov, 2013). As mentioned earlier, class conflict's vision is evident when the communists attempted to change a dog into a human being. Furthermore, the concerned persons thought they could use science to change a dog into a human being, whom they could have total control over, or have the same communist ideals.

The term "revolution" refers to instances where there is a complete turnaround from one way of doing things to another. In political science, revolution means a complete change of system with happens when citizens get oppressed by the people in authority. The Potemkin movie shows sailors who appear to be fed up with the inhumane treatment from the imperialists' officers while on duty. Indeed, the earlier highlighted issue regarding rotten meat occurred on multiple occasions despite the sailors' continuous pleas to rectify the problem (All soviet movies on RVISION, 2016). In this case, the sailors feel that they do not have any option apart from rising against the officers. It is also crucial to note some sailors refused to tone down their complaints even when faced with an imminent threat of death by shooting. Besides, the people charged with carrying on the execution refused to follow their superior's orders, and there are even more calls for the sailors to rise against their oppressors.

In the "Heart of a Dog" novel, the communist ruler tries to bring forth a revolution through researching eugenics as a possible way to better the Soviet race. The communists believed that certain traits, whether positive or negative, were hereditary. People could use science to create individuals who could go a long way in expanding the communists' ideals. For example, "the mounting of an experiment by Preobrazhensky of a combined transplant of the hypophysis and the testes to explore the acceptability of hypophysis transplant and its potential for rejuvenating the human organism (Bulgakov, 2013)." was the main of operating. In this case, the revolution in the novel comes through a top-down approach. In other words, there are some attempts to introduce revolution, but the attempt emanates from the rulers who have a big desire to have control over their citizens.

Historical change refers to changes (significant and seemingly insignificant) happening for a long time. In my view, the shared vision regarding the historical evolution in Potemkin arises from the long periods of oppression that the sailors passed through in the imperialists' officers' hands. In other words, people had reached a defining moment where they could no longer shut up in the face of mistreatment by their rulers. It is pertinent to note that the sailors rebelled against the oppressors (namely the officers), beat them up, and thrown them out to drown, which exemplifies a historical change where the oppressed ganged up against the oppressed reclaim the long-lost freedom and rights.

Consequently, "The Heart of a Dog's" historical change happens when a stray dog later named Sharik gets a second chance in life after getting injuries occasioned by boiling water (Bulgakov, 2013). The person who rescued Sharik worked as a physician for the Communist Party. The dog ended up undergoing failed attempts to change him into a human being capable of conducting himself according to the Communist ideals. Indeed, as the Communists realized, it is impossible to turn dogs into a "perfect" communist person, especially after they transplanted organs of an unfit person to the Sharik.

The two works' shared vision of gender is that all women cited are victims of the oppressors instead of villains. For instance, there are multiple cases of Sharik harassing women in "The Heart of a Dog" novel (Bulgakov, 2013). Also, the Potemkin movie has numerous women involved in various circumstances, from the old ones watching on and praying, the one whose son was killed by the officers, to the ones who died in the indiscriminate shooting that occurred (Battleship Potemkin, 2016).

Regarding the shared vision of progress, the Potemkin scenario ends in a somewhat positive sense because the sailor eventually overcomes the oppressors after a long-drawn battle (All soviet movies on RVISION, 2016). That the sailors were able to defeat the officers and had others join the revolution was positive progress in terms of the conflict that emanated from being fed on rotten meals.

However, the two works part ways regarding the above visions regarding the result of the contrasting journeys. For example, the Potemkin Video's mutineers persisted with their pursuit of justice until they achieved their target, unshackling themselves from the imperialists' officers. Besides, theirs was a bottom-top approach vision to change where ordinary citizens managed to triumph over the mighty. I also notice a significant amount of courage exhibited by the sailors in the movie to stand up against government machinery with riffles and eventually manage to overcome them (All soviet movies on RVISION, 2016). In my view, the sailors' actions show my argument in the introduction part that there is a massive difference between human beings and the animal kingdom in terms of decision making, resolve, mental strength, and social interaction capacity.

On the other hand, I can see an apparent failure by the Communists to change the dog into a human being who could expand and exercise the communists' policies. Indeed, the physician who operated on the dog had to admit that Sharik's state was due to having in his body organs of a defective person, hence his unbecoming behavior (Bulgakov, 2013). The top-bottom approach to change that I had highlighted earlier did not bear fruit, especially after putting much effort into turning an animal into a human being. In this regard, the central point of departure regarding the two works is that human beings, however insignificant they may appear, have the unmatched ability to make things happen, even when faced with a seemingly impossible battle. In the same breath, it is evident that it is unwise for human beings to manipulate animals with the idea that the latter can help them achieve their human dreams.

Conclusion

In brief, the central lesson regarding the two highlighted works is that human beings reign supreme over animals to decide their destiny. Besides, class conflict between the rulers and the populace does not have a happy ending, particularly when the former decides to disregard the latter's rights. Leaders should understand the citizenly has the ultimate power to decide for themselves despite the former having the instruments of power.

References

All soviet movies on RVISION (2016, December 4). Battleship Potemkin (1925) movie [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2986SLGCgeE.

Bulgakov, M. (2013). The heart of a dog. Melville House Pub.