erratic retaliation

1. Anthropomorphism: an interpretation of what is not human. I think that Ishmael is talking about how humans always think what animals do in the human sense not only because we are used to seeing the kind of behavior, but think that the human way is the correct way. Just like in the consecutive lines after the mention of this word, Ishmael talks about animals and territories. Animals have no want for territory, nor do they need it. We just think that animals are claiming land for themselves because that is what humans do. Really though, the animals are just taking land that has the resources to keep them living.

2.
a.Erratic retaliation is kind of like saying if it's my land and my resoures, I attack, and you run away. If it's your land and your resourses run. In the case of the Cawks, this means that if one tribe starts to irk another tribe, the tribe being irked will try and bother the other tribe, so that they can be even.

b. Erratic Retaliation is a peacekeeping method because it makes the peaceful Cawk tribes protect themselves, instead of just being desroyied by other more aggressive Cawk tribes.

c. Cawks don’t destroy eachother because that would be useless. What I am saying, the Cawks don’t kill themselves because that would not help them advance. They could never benefit from such a ridiculous act