“This country is an unknown place suffering the invasion of a people whose minds have never touched the earth” p. 47
When I first read this it was easy to see the power in this statement. The wording was so strong and the message was even stronger. When reading the passage leading up to this, Berry paints a picture of beauty and freedom when describing nature and then cynically refers to it as the enemy in “man’s war against nature.” When reading this it made me stop and think about his reasons for making such a bold statement. After pondering this idea, I would almost have to agree. In my lifetime I have areas of beauty being completely bulldozed in order to accommodate larger houses, strip malls, and Walmarts. The sad thing is that to me this almost seems normal. I have grown up in a society where land is cleared and not much fuss is made about it unless perhaps it is a historical site.
It seems that our motivation and desires to expand what we believe is right, what is more natural to us than a field or a forest, has put the ways of the wild at odd and as our enemy. Berry even mentions the “alien army” which refers to the expansion of the American economy in my eyes. He really seems to feel strongly about the way we approach nature more recently. Another part of this passage that jumped out at me, was him describing places of “unforced loveliness”. I really like his choice of words because when I think of the term unforced I do think of something being natural. It emphasizes the way which we push our culture and create what we think is right, when the true natural goes to ruin.
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