On Hunting

My ongoing project, Whistling Copse is all about the murder of a gamekeeper by a poacher and all the various things that lead off of that. Amongst these, of course, are the issues raised by hunting, and I wondered about whether or not it might be possible to explore some of the current issues and protests around the recent hunting ban and present the results as part of my project. I have some thoughts on it now, which I'll briefly set down...

Unlike many, I'm not emotionally involved with the hunting issue. On the whole I think it is a troubling and outmoded cultural remnant which discomfits so many people that we would probably be best off without it. I agree with pro-hunting groups that in doing so we would be censoring part of our cultural heritage and doing away with part of what makes Britain what it is, and so on. I think, though, that on consideration of the meanings of hunting it is probably better that we should move on and should replace what we've lost with something more befitting the humane values I would hope most of us strive towards.

This is not to discount the appeal of hunting, however. I am certain that I would indeed find pursuit an energetic thrill, and the noisiness, liveliness and energy an affirming and enjoyable activity. I am certain, also, that I would find the death a shocking, poignant and powerful event that tramelled up personal reflections on mortality in its wake. An affecting and symbolic event. And one about which I would feel profoundly guilty and profoundly wrong.

I am surprised not to hear more defenses of hunting in which this symbolic event and its value are discussed. However, I would set this experience, which I have characterised as my own -imagined, to be sure- experience of hunting, against another, more troubling aspect that I believe exists, and which I believe is present in the minds of many who might otherwise speak of hunting's quasi-spiritual value. That is, issues of class and dominance are tied in with this experience inextricably.

Hunting is not only a thrilling pursuit. It is a symbol of dominance over one's fellow human beings in the act of trespass. (Perhaps I will be told that the whole point is only to hunt on one's own or on allowed land, but I don't for a moment believe that no trespassing goes on. Anyone who says this I call a liar- though I freely admit that I'm not as interested in the issue as to know of very many cases: spleen vented on Question Time is about as much as I have any knowledge of). It is also a determination against death and a declaration that one will live one's life in this world in such a manner as to acknowledge death's power and the power of cruelty, the better to frame one's life in a similarly inevitable composition of determination, grit and energetically-exacted pleasure. To be blooded, and brought into the reality of hunting and the real face of death is to be brought, says the logic of hunting, into the real world, to be brought closer to the fragile verve of life as expressed by will alone. To be blooded is to be brought face to face with the ruthless necessity of death, the enjoyment and exhilaration of pursuit, and to match them a ruthlessness of pleasure, a ruthlessness of will. The huntsmen and huntswomen are members of a compact against death. Their unswerving commitment to the hunt is an affirmation of life through the power of cruelty, (Cruelty plays a necessary, shocking part, in the pursuit: "If it happens, it happens because it must. If a creature must die, it must die. If I have to trespass, I shall. If I have to go to jail, I shall"). Hunting is likewise a display of dominance over those who lack the stomach for it or the will to take it, or to face the necessity of cruelty to take what one wants. The face of hunting as an affirmation of dominance, more than its cruelty to animals, is the one I find most troubling.

Yet I cannot deny a fascination. Clearly, if we should deny ourselves this rite, it will leave a gap in British identity. I think that we should reach towards new myths and new values. But what is more potent than death? What could one ally one's life to that could be more powerful a finality or more powerful a spur to the will? This question of values is one that should be at the vanguard of our culture, but of course, it's far from it. My fascination will not be purged. It is a natural fascination that could certainly find some healthier meditation than killing. I don't want to give the impression that my mind turns and turns on the idea of death, incidentally. I'm thinking about it now for the purposes of thinking about hunting. But thoughts of death and its attendant rites have a very present place in our lives, or should. Everyone who has thought about life has also, inevitably, thought about death. What do we do with those thoughts? That's what's needed.