Tina’s Reviews > Ghost Girl > Status Update

That's an excellent question. Interests me, too, so quickly googled if it was a trend, and the AI said no, but that since human on human cruelty was so common in literature, that writers are turning to animal cruelty to get across themes in a way that still shocks. Also, it said..

"the increased focus on animal representation in literary theory and criticism, sometimes called the "animal turn" or "animal-centric criticism," suggests that how animals are portrayed in literature, including aspects of cruelty and neglect, is a subject of growing academic interest. This heightened attention to animal experiences in literature means that representations of animal suffering are likely to be examined more closely by critics and readers alike. "

Other posts mentioned that with the coarsening of society, real cases of animal abuse are on the rise. Social media is cited to be a driver of this with sickos filming animal torture and killing and posting the vids.

So perhaps it is a combination of real societal breakdown/change, an academic and intellectual interest in the topic as a currently popular field of study, and writers attempting to find new ways to get their point across so they don't seem to be repeating old patterns. (But yeah, hard to read about)

Berengaria wrote: "That's an excellent question. Interests me, too, so quickly googled if it was a trend, and the AI said no, but that since human on human cruelty was so common in literature, that writers are turnin..."

These are some great points/theories that you've found there - alas, this particular book is from 1991. However, the other two books where this was the case, I remember being more recent - or it could just be bad luck with the books I chose.

Still, this was a very interesting comment to read, so thank you!