INTRODUCTION
Silent Spring is a science book written by Rachel Carson an eminent nature author and published by Houghton Mifflin on September 27, 1962, touching the topics related to Ecology, Pesticides and Environmentalism. The book is a detailed discussion on the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment and the related health issues faced by the human beings on being exposed to this polluted environment. The author has supported her views with appropriate scientific evidences and researches. In her book Carson directly accuses the chemical industry for manufacturing such chemical poison for their economic interests, which are harmful to the whole environment and brings about an imbalance among the elements of nature.
THEME The
…show more content…
The 1957 Fire ant eradication programme involving aerial spraying of DDT and other pesticides mixed with fuel oil encouraged Carson to dedicate her research and next book to pesticides and chemical poisons. The inspiration for writing ‘Silent Spring’ came from a letter written by Carson’s friend in January, 1958 to ‘The Boston Herald’ describing the death of birds around her place as a result of aerial spraying of DDT to kill mosquitoes. Carson now began the project of ‘Silent Spring’ by gathering examples of environmental damage that had occurred due to DDT. Many government scientists, whom she knew, provided her with confidential information on the subject. Research at the Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health brought Carson into contact with medical researchers investigating on various cancer causing chemicals. The work of National Cancer Institute researcher was of particular significance as he confirmed many pesticides as carcinogens. She even investigated individual incidents of pesticides exposure and human sickness and ecological damage due to the overuse of pesticides. Having found evidence supporting the pesticide – cancer connection and enough research material supporting her cause, Carson began writing the book. After much discussion ‘Silent Spring’ was decided as an apt title for the book suggesting a bleak future for the natural
Carson appeals to the arousal of the basic emotions, such as the arousal of fear in the public. Carson also appeals to pathos, or the emotions, by questioning the “highly intelligent” creators of these pesticides. Carson believes irrational bad decisions based on faulty evidence threaten the future existence of mankind. “Along with the possibility of the extinction of mankind by nuclear war, the central problem of our age has therefore become the contamination of man’s total environment with such substances of incredible potential for harm-substances that accumulate in the tissues of plants and animals and even penetrate the germ cells to shatter or alter the very material of heredity upon which the shape of the future depends.” However, the statement supports Carson’s intention to present a persuasive, and logical point of view without confusing the reader; suggesting she ment to go against a patient audience rather than an impatient one.
The most affected creature are the bees that are coming into contact with the insecticide. The aerial spraying in North Carolina resulted in the death of millions of honeybees. The product used, Trump, which contains the pesticide Naled, is labeled to be highly toxic to bees. Many beekeepers were not warned about the aerial spraying which resulted in the loss of their colonies. Juanita Stanley stated: “Now, I 'm going to have to destroy my hives, the honey, all
When Jeannette was visiting her friend’s home in Battle Mountain, her friend “pointed toward a shiny gold contraption dangling from the ceiling, which she proudly identified as a Shell No-Pest Strip… I went home and told Mom we needed to get a No-Pest Strip like Carla’s family, but she refused. ‘If it kills the flies,’ she said ‘it can’t be very good for us”’ (64-65). Jeanette’s mother doesn’t want to buy the no pest strip because she wants to preserve nature which seems fine because the lizards will eat the flies, but by doing this she has caused her home to be infested with flies and lizards and decline the family’s living conditions severely. While the Walls home in Phoenix was infested with cockroaches and termites, Jeanette “suggested we buy roach spray, like all our neighbors did, but Mom was opposed to chemical warfare…
In the first chapter of “Living Downstream” by Sandra Steingraber discussed about personal experiences living in Illinois and discovering how much the landscape has changed over the years. In addition to the changing landscape, cancer, especially breast cancer, has increased in the prairies of Illinois and pesticides usage may cause. Much of the discussion first begin with the change of landscape as the prairies of Illinois has become a place for farming and pesticides. As farming became an important aspect of Illinois, pesticides were created to remove any bugs or insects from the product that is being farmed. A few pesticides formulas that came to be are atrazine, dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The purpose of published “Silent Spring” was to alert and inform everyone about the danger the environment is in due to the spraying of pesticides. Carson wanted to let the public know the truth about pesticides that governments and health organizations were hiding from everyone. In the beginning of Chapter 2 Rachel states “The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of the air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal material. ”(5). This quote explains Carson’s whole purpose of the book in one sentence; to bring change in the world by preventing the widespread use of DDT and dangerous pesticides.
Spring is universally symbolic for rebirth. Yet Edna St. Vincent Millay, takes a very different perspective in her view in her poem “Spring”. Millay finds the season redundant and agitating. By using negative diction and imagery her message that the beauty of nature can't compensate for the existence of death is extremely clear.
Jeri Ward Professor Lyn Froehlich English 1101 30 September 2015 Pesticides and the Death of Pollinators Our world as we know it may not exist in the near future. Right now, pesticides are eradicating pollinators by the thousands. These essential organisms are the major way that plants are able to reproduce. If pollinators are eliminated, the earth will lose a significant amount of vegetation, resulting in a considerable deficit of oxygen and precipitation.
Pesticides and How it Works Abstract: A pest is "a plant or creature unfavorable to people or human concerns". Pesticide is Chemical or natural substance intended to slaughter or retard the development of pests that harm or meddle with the development of products, bushes, trees, timber and other vegetation coveted by people. Keywords: Antimicrobials, Antimicrobials, Herbicides Introduction:
Imagine having so much pesticides in use that people and animals were actually dying from it. In the 1950’s the overuse of pesticides was a serious problem. Rachel Carson was an activist who was against the use and overuse for these pesticides. She wanted to address this problem to the government and the public and warn about the harmful effects pesticides have on the environment and the people. In “A Fable For Tomorrow”, Rachel Carson utilizes ethos, logos and pathos in order to bring awareness to the overuse of pesticides.
In today’s world, there are many people creating new chemical substances that has negative effect to our world. Rachel Carson, in her article "The Obligation to Endure" argues that the pesticides and other chemicals we use are harmful to more than just the environment. I agree with Carson in her article, in that we should reduce most of the harmful chemical use and instead use technological inventions. Carson is a person who seems very passionate about the environment and is very concerned of its inhabitants. It is hard to believe that intelligent human beings would use bad chemicals substances that would affect the environment and themselves negatively.
With time comes changes, and these changes are widely observed throughout history as the societal norms, values, and politics of a region shift. In the text The Silent Revolution by Ronald Inglehart, there is an analysis of these changes between the people of a jurisdiction and their influence on politics. The topic of this work still holds true today, because the first world continues to prioritize more post material values, as opposed to the bare necessities, and it is demonstrated in the ideals of differing generations.