Assignment 5

     "Lifelike" by Susan Orlean, is all about taxidermists and the animals they create. My first thought while reading this was how gross this job is. I don't really understand how someone could kill and skin animals only to make them look real again. It's ironic that the animal has to die before these people can make them look realistic or like they are alive. On page two of the paper, Orlean states "most people were still discomfited by it. How could you not be? It was a business of dealing with dead things, coupled with the questionable enterprise of making dead things look like live things." I would be one of the people she is talking about. It's weird to me that people do this for a living and in a way it's very creepy. 

     I think she wrote this article to show people how much of an art this job it. How passionate people become with it and how much work and detail go into the final project. Most people have seen the mannequins taxidermists create, but most people don't understand how much work these people put in to the finished project and how much time it takes to perfect it. I don't think that Orlean wrote this to make people like taxidermists or to become one but I think she wrote it to open peoples eyes to different things. I think she wanted people to see just how competitive it can be. People know that sports are competitive and art is competitive as well as most normal jobs these days. But a lot of us don't realize how many people do this, how much work it takes, and just how competitive the job is. 

     For me, the article left me disgusted almost. I didn't like the article at all but that might also be because I love animals. Taxidermists in general didn't really bother me but when I read this article, I kind of had an angry feeling toward them. To me the job is really disgusting and extremely creepy, it reminds me of the way a serial killer would act without anyone else knowing about it. I guess it's weird to me because taxidermy isn't really something I see a normal person doing for a living. I didn't really get the purpose of the article the only thing I can think of is an informative article.

What do you think the purpose of the article is?

Does anyone else think that Taxidermy is disgusting?