Battle of the Ants

In the essay “Battle of the Ants”, written by Henry David Thoreau, there is a powerfully written comparison of a war fought by ants, to war fought by humans. Thoreau Carefully watched this battle take place. As the battle went on, he could see the army of black ants was much more powerful then the red ants. He compares this battle to that of the Trojan War. When reading this essay it becomes clear how similar it is when insects fight to how humans fight, especially the amount of struggle and energy put into the war. The ants felt the pain of missing a limb just as a human would feel if a bomb exploded near him and he lost a limb. Thoreau’s description of the one specific battle that he examined on his window sill is sad. Had Thoreau not mentioned the fact that the battle was between ants, the reader might assume that it was between two armies of humans. Thoreau uses very descriptive details of how the ants are hurt and they have pain in their faces. The reader could assume that it was humans fighting and build up some emotion. This proves that there is little difference between humans and animals fighting. Thoreau uses many comparisons of a war between ants and wars of humans; he compares the ants war to the Trojan War by creating names of ants as Greek heroes and using quotes from the war. The Trojan War is one of the most written about wars in the history of the world. It is no surprise that Thoreau uses this war to describe the battle between the ants. The red ants are the weaker of the two species because of their size. The black ants are almost a half inch long, while the red ants are about a quarter inch. The armies in the Trojan War were about the same, but one side had the advantage of a well protected city and fighting on its home terrain. The wars seem similar. The fight was to the death, and one side would bring home complete victory. This is similar to the victor in the Trojan War. The loser would not get to keep Helen. The ants