The Crate and Pet Food Comparative Essay

The Crate by Stephen King and Pet Food by Paul Groves and Nigel Grimshaw inform us about the true nature of evil. These stories show us that it’s impossible for animals to be evil; that they can only execute what we deem to be evil acts. This is because animals are instinctive creatures that don’t have the capacity to think about others; they are incapable of having a motive to kill. Animals only kill when they are hungry or feel threatened by other animals or humans venturing into their habitat and disturbing them. The true nature of evil is inside all humans, waiting for our malicious emotions to take over our better judgement; to be unleashed.

Animals are not evil. They are creatures that rely solely on their instincts to survive. They do not think about their actions beforehand; they just act. Animals can execute what we deem to be evil acts, but there is no malice behind their behaviour, which makes them incapable of being evil. Also, every animal species has a different type of killing and defensive technique. They can use their claws, teeth or strength to overcome their prey. Without these techniques, they wouldn’t survive. Humans, on the other hand, can both do evil and be evil. Humans are able to have a motive to kill, plot, wait for their victim and think about how they their victim would suffer. If a person was truly evil, they would use the most gruesome or the slowest technique possible to deliberately make their victims suffer for longer. That’s the true nature of evil.

The Crate begins with Henry Northrup letting a scared Dexter Stanley into the house, sitting him down and making him a drink. Dexter feels that his ‘central axle that binds us to the state we call sanity were under a greater strain than ever before.’ “Two men are dead, Henry,” Dexter begins to explain. “And I could be blamed… But it wasn’t me. It was the crate. And I don’t even know what’s in there!” It is clear that this is what Dexter wanted to tell Henry; what he was so...