Leiningen Versus the Ants Assignment
Everett Robinson 9-31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Intro
  • Definitions
  • Plot Structure
  • Character Roles
  • View point used
  • Conflicts
  • Why Leiningen Stays
  • Suspense
  • Quote meaning
  • Stag Scene
  • Attacks vrs. Defences
  • Ironic Outcome
  • Crossword
    • Meaning of the Quote

     A dispassionate observer would have estimated the odds against him at a thousand to one. But then such an on-looker would have reckoned only by what he saw--the advance of myriad battalions of ants against the futile efforts of a few defenders--and not by the unseen activity that can go on in a man's brain. Even though the defenders are losing ground, Leiningen believes that his intelligence and planning will prevail over the ants. While an outside observer could see the onslaught of the ants, he would not be able to know what Leiningen is thinking or planning. The quote fits into Leiningen’s philosophy because it shows that even when things are looking bad, Leiningen still believes in the superiority of his own intellect and that a man is master of his own fate.