"Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage"

Woody Allen’s characteristically dry wit finds an outlet in the observation, "Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not only food: frequently there must be a beverage". On first glance, the statement addresses one of the oldest and darkest questions of human nature: the root causes of violence. It opens with the suggestion that killing is an act motivated by necessity, by the primal urge for sustenance. Humanity, like all animals, once depended on hunting and killing for survival, food is framed as justifiable cause for taking life.

However, Allen cannot leave such gravity untempered; immediately, the absurdity creeps in with the addition of “frequently there must be a beverage.” Suddenly, the existential is punctured by the mundane and trivial. The deadly seriousness of killing for food is undercut by the almost comical notion that the beverage, an accompaniment rather than an essential, also becomes cause for murder. Here, Allen highlights how human motivations, even for acts as severe as killing, can extend beyond the primal to the petty or indulgent. The juxtaposition of violence for survival with violence for pleasure or preference lampoons human nature’s tendency to rationalize excess or cruelty for reasons that may be far from noble.

Underneath the humor is a critical reflection on human behavior and rationalization. While animalistic needs can explain some actions, humans often cloak less defensible desires in the language of necessity, justifying harmful acts for comfort, pleasure, or whimsy. Allen’s half-serious, half farcical assertion blurs the line between need and want, survival and luxury, challenging us to consider where necessity ends and absurdity begins in our actions. Through this clever inversion, Allen exposes the folly in many of our justifications, suggesting the motivations for our most serious actions are often not just primal but also, frequently, laughably trivial.