After reading the chapter encountering nature the question arises. What is nature and why have historical American figures such as poets and writers focused so much of their time on writing about nature. Well the answer is quit simple. Nature is a part of us and history. It cant be avoided. After reading this nature causes many natural disasters such as snow and frigid temperatures. Many classic stories discuss the cold winter and survival. Moby Dick talks about a Captains goal to find the great white whale. Nature is a beautiful thing but it can also be devastating. Natural disasters such as things that happen in the ocean can be deadly.
Tidal waves are just one example of what the ocean can do. These massive waves can crash down on entire cities destroying anything in its path. Creatures of the sea such as whales and sharks can be deadly. Even though the odds are slim of being killed by one, things can still happen. Such creatures like whales as depicted in Moby Dick can be a nice sight but also deadly. In the book the captain of the ship lost his leg in a prior encounter with a whale. When the crew went after Moby Dick he snapped and swelled huge waves towards the boat and attacked. He wrecked the ship. The panicked crew was scattered around the boat.
IN the end nature prevailed because moby dick scared the crew. But it was the humans who got the last word when they killed he gigantic whale. Frigid cold winters are another one of natures forces. Back in the times of the Indians, and before modern day housing people had to survive in the cold. Many times people lived on mountaintops or alongside a river. When winter hit its strongest it was hard to live. These people used techniques such as making fires and eating wild fruit and killing animals as way of survival. As in the classic story Rain of Gold, gold was traded for food and clothing.
This was one of the only ways to harvest food in the weather. Water was easily found by almost every one in the mountains, this mad it to trade. Every one was eager to get gold. Mother nature poured piles of snow onto the mountains making the trading of goods a necessity. Snow is a thing of beauty but when Mother Nature unleashes her full power it can be deadly. Without the proper clothing frostbite would set in fast, and death would be just around the corner. Another part of mature is animals. Animals generally are fierce and kill each other for food. Its the survival of the fittest.
As said the Lion is king of the jungle, he rains his territory. Other animals know he is the ruler so they dont bother him. So why do we cage up these wild beasts. By doing this theyre being taken out of their natural environment. This doesnt only hurt them it upsets the ecological balance. Healthy animal need to be in their natural habitat. We dont take a perfectly fine human that did n harm and put him in a cage do we? No, so why should we do this to animals. Well its done for the pleasure of humans. They get put in a zoo so people can watch them. Galway Kinell wrote poems about nature.
In his poems he brought the reads to woods, were the hunted and fished. His poems were truly about how relaxing nature can be. His poems show the readers what a positive thing nature can be. A downfall of the woods can be is if some one decides to disrupt it. A fire can cause major chaos. Besides all the woods burning down, animals and who ever else is there will be in danger. Even if they werent hurt their place of living would be. As shown in the story rain of gold the family would have died if they hadnt have found the gold to trade for clothing and food. During this harsh time of winter these things were a necessity.
The long journey up and down the mountain to trade for goods could be fatal in the winter conditions. Jack London was notorious for telling stories about survival. London went off to be part of the Klondike gold rush. In 1903 he wrote the call of the wild, this was known as one of the best dog stories ever told. His stories had true meaning he knew what it went to survive in nature. He was correspondent in the war between Russia and Japan, and also helped in the Mexican revolution. Unlike many other American writers he was part of a war. Many werent and just told stories of what they heard had happened.
So after reading this passage what is nature and what does it have to do with classic American literature. Well the two seem like they would have nothing in common but in actuality they do. Many famous American artists write about nature. I think there goal is to inform people of how important nature is. But many of these writers are talking about there own personal experiences. As shown in the stories many of natures occurrences such as, hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, and blizzards can be harmful and cause death. Unfortunately these have caused many casualties.