"God or Gorilla"

I was sick last week and missed the class where we were assigned to write a blog about the reading "God or Gorilla." Although this entry is late, I still wanted to submit some of my thoughts about this essay.

The article “God of Gorilla” presents the topic of creationism versus evolution. This debate has been a topic of many media stories recently. I think that most Americans are aware of the two sides (creationism and evolution) and the arguments presented by supporters of either side. I think that most readers of this article probably have some knowledge of the subject. I feel that the author tries to report “God versus Gorilla” by telling a story, so that it is more than just reiterating facts that many people are probably already aware of. The author uses his unique firsthand experiences to tell this story. He relies on his characters to tell the story. I think that this article is a good example of writing about a common subject in a slightly different way; I think it is a good example of developing characters.
“God or Gorilla” tells the opinions of the two sides through what the different characters think. However, the portrayal of the characters does more than present the different sides of the argument; it also conveys the author’s opinion of the subject matter. The author supports his opinion in support of evolution through the depiction of the characters. The characters whom he selects supporting creationism are portrayed negatively. His negative depiction of these characters reflects negatively on the supportive opinions of creationism that they hold. There is the disorganized or absent legal defense. There is the Oxy-Contin addict. There is the blindly faithful and stupid woman who doesn’t even care to understand what she is supporting. The author describes these characters as foolish and their ideas, by association, as also foolish.
I think that the author’s use of characters creates an interesting article. He is talking about a subject that I already know about, but I still found this article interesting because he told his story in a different way. For me, this is more of an opinion piece than an informative piece, with his opinion clearly stated in the very beginning. I like the way the author presented his argument because it told a story about people, rather than just presenting the arguments and facts.