Eugene Marais’, The
Soul of the Ape, holds an interesting chapter titled, Addiction and Depression, in which he discusses addiction to
narcotics, which he calls poisons, and how depression could be linked to the
cause of this addiction within the Chacma. He examines the Chacma’s addiction
to certain fruit and draws comparisons to the phenomenon of addiction among
humans. How he draws this comparison is definitely worth exploring, and the
language which he uses within this chapter also differs from his other
chapters, and the change in writing is quite fascinating.
The
Soul of the Ape, is a document of the observation of the
Chacma baboons in the Northern Transvaal’s Waterberg over a period of 3 years
by Marais, and is written in the form of various essays. Eugene’s manner of
writing is simply exceptional, transforming a scientific undertaking, into a
wonderful narrative which depicts the relationship he shared with a group of
baboons as their observer. His writing is both captivating and shows his
intensive study of the group’s behaviour. In the fifth chapter, “Addiction and
Depression”, his manner of writing changes somewhat compared to other chapters,
and he essentially makes the language of the chapter equally more complex and vulnerable.
It is this change of writing that is so interesting and which potentially
reveals more about his own addiction to morphine than in his previous chapters.
Unlike in his other chapters, he focuses more on the
human component of addiction and how it comes about. A substance used for the
purpose of intoxication, or as Marais referred to them as, “poisons”, were
essentially used for the, “purpose of creating euphoria”, in order to alleviate
the user of mental or emotional pain (101).
Marais continues to comment on the use of ‘poisons’ by humans and their
leading to addiction, throughout the entirety of the chapter, paying very
little attention to the chacma which he is studying. When he does speak of the
chacma however, his language is fused with fascination behind the baboons’
ability to get addicted to certain fruit, alcohol and tobacco. What he does
presume is that the chacma is in, “some degree liable to the same quality of
suffering which is undoubtedly an attribute of human consciousness”, as chacma
bound in captivity had more of a disposition to form addictions and addictive
habits (Marais 113).
While it would make sense to contrast and compare
the behaviour of chacma and their addiction forming capabilities to those of
humans and their addiction, Marais takes it further and discusses Hesperian Depression within humans and
within the chacma. It is within this comparison of depression among the two
species where Marais uses the analogy of the progression of the day to explain
how depression is, “tidal in character” (Marais 114). He beautifully explains
depression as being at it’s, “lowest ebb” at sunrise or during early morning
and it being influence being strongest, it’s, “highest flow”, being at the
setting of the sun (Marais 114). Marais, only as he could, draws beautifully on
the progression of the day, of light turning into dark, to evaluate and
describe the manner in which depression works. It is difficult to read this
chapter and not feel Marais’ association with the chacma; he did, after all,
suffer from depression and an addiction to morphine and that struggle which he
endured, is displayed by his subjects and is given form by his writing.
While his theories may not have been perfect, his
writing of this chapter is absolutely wonderful. The chapter is quite dense
and complex holding many ideas and thoughts, which requires the reader to
unpack the chapter through multiple rereading’s of the chapter and book itself.
Exceptionally well written, engaging and representing various new ideas about
the chacma, the chapter, “Addiction and Depression”, is one of eleven chapters
to truly captivate the reader.
Work cited
Marais, Eugene and Robert Ardrey. “Addiction and
Depression.” The Soul of the Ape. Ed.
Eugene Marais. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 2006. 101-120. Print.
Thanks Gustav - and, yes this is a particularly captivating chapter. I wonder if you can further develop your comment that the language in this chapter is more "complex and vulnerable" than elsewhere in the book? From what follows, I imagine you are referring here to the ways in which the "suffering" of the baboons mirrors his own. Could you offer one or two short quotes that struck you by way of illustration, and perhaps comment on what it is about the language that makes it particularly poetic?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this observation about human and animal capacity for "suffering" is remarkable. I wonder what "discipline" such an observation would form part of? Ethology? Anthropology? Psychology?
Thank you for the interest in the post and for the response Lannie. To explain what I meant by "complex and vulnerable", as well as to answer the question of what makes the language so captivating and poetic, I have two quotes from the beginning of the chapter that I would like to share:
ReplyDelete1. "Men drink on happy occasions, too, because they have the assurance that in this manner all vestiges of mental gloom will be lifted and they will attain a state of pure joyousness more in accordance with the environment" (Marais 102-103)
2. "continuous use of intoxicants begins to resemble sluggish mental anaesthesia rather than positive happiness: but even this psychological narcosis is a respite and become to the individual preferable to the normal condition of suffering" (Marais 104)
Within both extracts, Marais' language is fluid and, almost, enticing. He uses language to transform simple descriptions and ideas into something more than just it's intended use and makes it beautiful. Why I said that the language in the chapter is "complex and vulnerable", is that the language holds so much more than what is said, making the writing dense and holding many layers waiting to be unpacked. This density makes it "vulnerable" in the sense, that once it is unpacked, both Marais and is work is made bare for the reader. More than the baboons simply mirroring his own "suffering", the text allows for Marais to question and reassess much of his own life and ideas.
With regards as to which "discipline" this observation would be a part of, I believe that falls within te=he ground of ethology, anthropology and psychology. Going even further than that, disciplines such as history, sociology and even theology (in the chapter he quotes from holy texts and texts relating to religion) are apparent in his writing. While Marais himself, may not have been aware of it (which I doubt), it is clear that he draws on many disciplines, without finding himself within a chief discipline.
I started reading a bit of this chapter on the camp, it sounds like Marias had an intense and somewhat deep relationship with his research about the Chacma baboons. He seems to relate his own life to the life of the baboons and this could also be somewhat seen in the movie, when the character Marais spends time in the mountains with the baboons and when he spends time with the family he is staying with.
ReplyDeleteI think that with his observations of the baboons he was able to relate to them and their addictions because he saw the similarities between the baboons and humans. In my post titled, Rousseau, Levaillant, Marais, Marais had read Darwin and in this chapter I can see a slight link between Marais and Darwin and effects of evolution that might have influenced Marais' writing in this chapter.
Marais seems very involved in his work and not looking at his observations solely from an outsiders point of view.