Bipedalism is what distinguishes man from his fellow mammals and the very ability to walk upright carries a lot of significance. This form of locomotion has allowed man to transition from his primitive ancestors to what he is today, a modern human or Homo sapiens. Dr. Wendell Holmes, a notable scientist of his time, wrote about the uprightness of the humans when they walk. He discussed the physical motions of walking in great detail and provided scientific analyses of the movements. A few years later A.K. Volinsky, a dance critic, also wrote about this topic only he took a different approach to the issue. At first glance, both “The Vertical: The Fundamental Principle of Classic Dance” by A.K Volinsky and “The Physiology of Walking” by Wendell Holmes seem to be very similar as they revolve around this concept of verticality; both essays discuss how walking upright is a step towards progress in humans, but the way in which they approach this issue is profoundly different. When comparing the two essays side by side, and after reading Holmes’ essay, the notion of superiority is highlighted and it becomes clear that it is the underlying argument in Volinsky’s essay. Ultimately, each essay leaves a very different impact on the reader: the former leaves us with a notion of superiority while the latter leaves us in awe.

In “The Physiology of Walking” Holmes explains each step of the process of walking. The diction he uses to introduce the human capability to walk is truly humbling: “We wish to give our readers as clear an idea as possible of that wonderful art of balanced vertical progression which they have practised, as M. Jourdain talked prose, for so many years, without knowing what a marvellous accomplishment they had mastered.” It is evident, by the way in which Holmes is starting off this sentence, that he feels as though the readers need to understand a very abstract and difficult concept. The way Holmes is discussing this makes it seem like the reader doesn’t fuller understand the beauty of walking; that’s just how high up on a pedestal he is placing the ability to walk. Holmes’ word choice further conveys this message. By using words like wonderful art, progression, marvelous, and accomplishment to describe the act of walking instead of describing the actual people who are carrying out such action, Holmes is placing value and importance on the action. Thus, his words clearly show that he is admiring the physical capabilities of humans as opposed to humans themselves. This fascination can be attributed to the fact that he was a physiologist and a scientist; therefore Holmes would be drawn to the parts and functions of the body rather than the actual person.

Going forward with this idea of technical language used to describe the human body and the act if walking, Holmes makes it seem like he is describing the mechanics of a machine, and not an able minded human. He refers to the people moving as subjects, since they were being drawn, but this also works as a way to draw attention way from the human and toward the actions that are being described. A few sentences later, Holmes leaves out the subject completely and focuses on the movement of the legs. It is absolutely logical for Holmes to emphasize the motions of walking, as that is what his essay is focused on, but to leave out the subject and his ability to actually move his leg, that is something different; a leg does not move on its own and a heel does not strike the floor on its own. The human will to move his or her own legs is something Holmes begins to leave out entirely.

In A.K. Volinky’s piece we have quite the opposite. Toward the end of the essay Volinsky discusses the “superiority of verticality to horizontality” in great detail. Through out the entire two pages of the essay we see Volinksy’s admiration for that which is vertical. He claims that items positioned in such a way carry more weight and are naturally seen as more compelling than their horizontal counterparts. This becomes more apparent when he connects the notions of verticality to progress:

“This was the moment of the greatest bloodless revolution in the history of mankind. Man ceased to be horizontal and became vertical. From this time on he identified as a man, not an ape or a primate resembling man. At the same time he acquires dominion over nature and becomes its master.”

There is much going on in these few sentences. The words that Volinsky uses to describe uprightness is starkly different to those Holmes used. Words like greatest, revolution, dominion, and master all associate this ability to walk on two legs with powerful adjectives and descriptions. It is unnecessary to say that humans become the master of nature, when nature as a whole is not something that can obey. Volinsky could have simply stated that humans now had the ability to do more with their hands e.g. make tools and use resources to cultivate crops. Instead, Volinsky purposely chose words that would elicit a feeling of superiority. By claiming this transition to bipedalism as the “greatest bloodless revolution in the history of mankind” it makes for a grandiose concept that leaves the reader with a sense of pride. This is drastically difference for the way Holmes goes about his essay: Holmes disregards the human subjects at times just to focus on the “wonderful art”—that is walking.

Volinsky further expands on this notion of superiority when he references Moscatti, an Italian physician, and Immanuel Kant. “He agreed with Moscatti’s supposition that to crawl is more natural, but emphatically asserted standing upright as an act of the spirit that overcomes the natural state and raises man above nature.” It is clear that Volinsky is starting to see this ability to walk upright as a sort of religion. It’s not longer about the fact that humans can use their hands to do more; it’s now become a matter of correctness and spirit. It has become a way for humans to distance themselves from their primitive ancestors and transcend into greater beings. This may seem a bit far-fetched but Volinsky himself states that “With the vertical begins the history of human culture and the gradual conquest of heaven and earth.” What started off as the evolutionary history of mankind has now become a prophecy for further conquest.

As you can see, through out these essays there has been the recurring theme of human progress in the form of walking. Both authors passionately discuss this issue but they take very different approaches on the issue; this ultimately elicits very different reactions from the readers. Holmes discusses the beauty of walking and considers it to be a mastered skill whereas Volinsky sees it as the beginning of human superiority over nature and the world. By looking at the use of diction and the description of the process of walking in both passages, the reader can start to see the whole picture. The two essays seems to complement each other with their starkly contrasting views on what is the same topic in around the same time period. The professional background of the authors offers some explanation as to their stance on the topic of verticality and human progress. Looking at the two essays provides a context for the topic that would have otherwise not have been there.