“The Animal” is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that delves deep into the complexities of generational racism, identity, and human nature versus nurture. James inherits his family farm from his abusive father, a place steeped in a tradition of racism. James’ real struggles begin when he finds a young boy of color on his property, igniting a series of events that challenge his deeply ingrained beliefs and reshape his understanding of humanity.
The Animal can be a little controversial and uncomfortable, but I felt it was an important story to tell. Let me tell you a little bit about how it came to be. While working at a hospital I had a conversation with a surgeon in the physician’s lounge one day and he made some alarming comments that were the most blatantly racist things I had heard in years. This is 2014 at the time, and I was intrigued as to how someone in 2014 could have such racist views?!
I started asking him questions about his beliefs, which he shared with ZERO filter! His shocking view was that people of color were animals that had been domesticated and should never have been given their freedom. I was stunned! (as I’m sure you are…) But I started probing to understand how these views had come to be. It became quite obvious that he had been raised with this racist views as a part of his family traditions (and no he was not from the deep-south). These were ideals he was proud of, as they were generational, passed from father to son for two hundred years.
I was so shocked, that I felt compelled to put thoughts I had about the interaction into a story outline. I spent a couple of years toying with how to approach how I would depict this legacy of racism, and how to paint a picture of what it would look like for someone with such racist views to have them challenged and come to a higher understanding of their fellow man. Overtime the storyline for The Animal immerged. It might not be the best written work that has ever graced paper, but I am proud of the message and would like to hold on to the idea that some person might read it and treat their fellow man a little better, and see people of color with more compassion and understanding.
The Animal is a story of a man who has inherited a family legacy of generational racism. Under these false beliefs he justifies prisoning a boy of color. It will be a long journey of discovery to question which one of them is truly The Animal.