Bambi Analyzation

Salten’s Bambi encompasses the moral question of man’s position in the natural world, and how the author expresses what exactly man is doing there. Although on the surface it is presented as if the human’s entrance into the natural world is a corruptive force assaulting the edenic state Bambi (and the rest of the innocent creatures) is born into, the overall underlying message is that man has a natural place in the world as well that he cannot be blamed for fulfilling. Man is referred to in the text as “He,” a common term for God. This delegates a superior trait to human beings over animals, which is a blunt yet real portrayal of the chain of life that Salten acknowledges.

The initial blow to the reader is derived from man’s supposed “heartless, mommy-killing” tendencies that leave the creatures in a state of loneliness and suffering. But as brutal is this is, it is a necessary fact of life. There is certain vitality for pain and hardship in order to survive and make life what it is supposed to be. Solitude is key in the development, growth, and maturity of Bambi, and is provided by the constant separation and eventual death of his mother. The “Bambi effect,” which is an immediate emotional objection to the slaughtering of adorable animals, is the first sense the reader gets with the onslaught of deaths. However, the real message of the book sinks in once the story comes full circle, parallel to the cycle of life, at the book’s conclusion.

Salten’s perspective on the notion of man’s place in the natural world is that he can either choose to help the wounded, as in Gobo’s acculturation and rehabilitation occurred, or hunt the animals as a means of living. Both are on opposite ends of the spectrum, however they are both natural choices man can (and does) make. There is an innate nature in us all to help another in need just as much as there is to survive. In this case, man is hunting the creatures to eat them and carry on with his own life. The animals must...