Man Against Nature :: Environment Pollution

Man Against Nature I perceived, and continue to perceive, a severe problem with our culture. We see the space we inhabit as not wild, as not nature. Nature is in the parks, is in the mountains we drive over to sun ourselves on the beach, in unreachable and savage depths of countries like Brazil and continents like Africa. â€Å"That is nature,† we say, â€Å"not this, not our home, not our workplace.† A favorite author of mine calls this an â€Å"estranged worldview†, a term she borrowed herself from Friedrich Engels. She describes it thusly: â€Å"We are strangers to natur, to other human beings, to parts of ourselves. We see the world as made up of separate, isolated, nonliving parts that have no inherent value. â€Å"They are not even dead – because death implies life.)†[i] She goes on to say that â€Å"when nature is empty of spirit, forests and trees become merely timber, something to be measured in board feet, valued only for its profitability, not . . . even for its part in the larger ecosystem.†[ii] Starhawk, the author, finds the roots of an estranged worldview laid deep into our past, two millennia and more. In the Enlightenment, she tells us, the separation of the divine and the mundane (from the Latin word mundus, meaning â€Å"world†) promoted by Christianity became what she calls the â€Å"machine image†, a very telling metaphor.[iii] In such a worldview, when we are told by William McDonough that he wants to build a â€Å"building like a tree†, we find the statement odd ad perhaps even laughable. Trees are alive. Buldings aren’t. It seems so simple. I will return to that idea of a â€Å"building like a tree†. By now, you might be protesting to the invisible author – me – that you do connect yourself to nature, that you visit national parks, enjoy camping and hiking, perhaps even teach Environmental Science classes. McDonough and his chemist cohort, Michael Braungart, wonder if â€Å"it is all too easy to leave our reverance in the parking lots.†[iv] Being designers, they take a look at less abstract demonstrations of the estranged worldview than does Starhawk (a Wiccan spiritual and ethical author), and they find it in the famed â€Å"view† that every middle management type is looking to have from his corner office after the promotion.

A Character’s Role Essay

In a world focused on elevators one wonders, what would it mean if one were to take the stairs? The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead, deals with the exploration of Lila Mae Watson, a black female intuitionist, who undergoes a quest to reveal what Intuitionism is all about. As a result of her quest, the connection between James Fulton, the creator of Intuitionism and Lila Mae Watson’s role as character is revealed. Lila M. Watson, the protagonist of this novel, endures a number of experiences as the first black elevator intuitionist. An accident occurs with an elevator which she was in charge of. From then on the story introduces Lila Mae’s quest for answers. Lila Mae’s life goes into detail about how fragments of her life have been shattered with grief, and racism above all. During her exam about elevators in college, she was answering flawlessly with details and precisions at the professor’s questions. The last question had nothing to do with elevators, just a reckoning to her; so that she knows that there are only twelve colored inspectors and they most of them are not even working, by making her know that even though she answered swiftly she didn’t know everything: â€Å"So you don’t know everything; that will be all Miss Watson. † (p 53) Within the story she goes into a subtle exploration of her own identity, race, and duty as a person in her position. This leads into the elusive quest for â€Å"the black box† and ultimately James’s Watson’s â€Å"Perfect elevator† But this quest of hers intertwines with the experiences of James Fulton. This intricate character deals with the many hardships that Lila Mae dealt with during her youth, only with the slight fact that he dealt with these issues with his inner self. Fulton’s secretive and deceiving nature is the actual cause of all the events that take place. James is actually a black man with light skin, who does not feel comfortable letting the world know that he is black because of his status. â€Å"Fulton’s hatred of himself and his lie of whiteness†(p 239). Although he’s not to blame because in the world they live in it is not as easy being a person of color. â€Å"There was no hope for him as a colored man because the white world will not let a colored man rise. â€Å"(p 240) For this very reason he decides to play the role of a white man. At early age he knew he would be confused for a white person, so he used this trait to achieve his greatness in life. Overtime Fulton became godly to people, because of his knowledge about elevators and what he had to write about them. â€Å"Every Tuesday James Fulton†¦. stood in the downstairs drawing room and lectured on the intricacies of his science† (p 54). One does not realize that this intuitionism is created as a joke. A joke that is taken seriously and soon evolves into the world itself. Both Fulton and Watson are two figures who struggle for one cause only. To achieve their goal in life, for Watson it is to find and reveal the perfect elevator into the world, and for Fulton it is to create and implement this perfect elevator into the world. As two black figures in a white-ruled society it is their socialistic duty to fulfill their goals and be aware that this achievement is critical for their community. Lila M. Watson is forced to go on a journey that is composed of events that will prove her innocence about the incident, discover the perfect elevator, and like Fulton, take an important position in society. She sees herself as a person who has a duty to fill Fulton’s shoes. In the other hand Fulton’s lies and secrets are what form the entire story. After having developed intuitionism for that long, he realized he needs a successor, who will deal with society. But it is Intuitionism that must be kept important until the world is ready for the perfect elevator. Fulton does not publish his work for this very reason. Like Lila Mae’s duty of finding his perfect elevator, it is his to create it. But little do we know that this perfect elevator is nothing more then what he has created as a mockery of the world he lives in. It consist of a perfect world where there exists no racial constrains. Fulton is a man who creates a perfect society in his mind and puts it in paper, but never reveals it. Lila Mae discovers this but she knows that even though she’s been living in a world of lies, it is her duty to preserve this knowledge until the world becomes a place like Fulton metaphorically described in his books. This the story that deals with one’s accomplishment to fool the world and in the meantime while everyone is fascinated by his accomplishments and fake works, he devotes his life to creating a blueprint to a better world for existence.

Truman Capote -In Cold Blood - Nature vs Nurture

ryan hegarty In Cold Blood. Question 2 â€Å"Nature vs Nurture† Truman Capote’s acclaimed â€Å"non-fiction† novel, In Cold Blood explores the concept as to whether killers are born or made, following the brutal murders of the Clutter family in rural Kansas. Capote develops Perry Smith’s horrid, unfortunate upbringing as a key narrative device which serves to illustrate the effect of childhood experiences on adult behaviour. Capote manipulates the reader’s idea of morality, controversially portraying Perry Smith in a sympathetic fashion despite his crimes, in an attempt to explain, if not justify, his actions. Capote juxtaposes two different perspectives on the crime, emphasising the difference between the victims’ background and that of the†¦show more content†¦The reader gains a sense of empathy for Perry Smith as Capote’s sensitive representation of him invites the reader to ponder his misfortune. As a result, the reader is prompted to suspend their beliefs and morals, and consider the â€Å" unjust† punishment that Perry is receiving. They are inclined to rethink their previous observations that the killer â€Å"is born evil† in light of Perry’s unfortunate upbringing. Undoubtedly, through Capotes invited reading,Show MoreRelatedIn Cold Blood: Nature vs Nurture Essay885 Words   |  4 PagesIn Truman Capote’s famous non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, there is evidence that supports the injustices of the trial: death penalty. The final outcome of the trail was never to be any different than death. â€Å"Of all the people in all the world, the Clutters were the least likely to be murdered† (Capote 85). We know the two men who killed the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Bill Hickock, preplanned the crime with malice and forethought. 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The idea of nature is the belief that people develop into who they are based on genetic traits given to them at birth. For example, some children inherit a musical talent from their parents along with eye color, hair color, and race. These traitsRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Nature And Nurture1821 Words   |  8 Pages Nature and nurture are usually seen as very different things, but they are actually somewhat similar and even integrated. There is a huge debate over which holds more influence over how people develop and whether they behave based on genes or their environment. In Sincero’s article Nature and Nurture Debate she discusses arguments for both sides, saying behavior may be completely in a person’s genes, or it could come from experience and influence. Many people believe â€Å"that the criminal acts, tendencyRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Nature And Nurture1821 Words   |  8 PagesNature and nurture are usually seen as very different things, but they are actually somewhat similar and even integrated. There is a huge debate over which holds more influence over how people develop and whether they behave based on genes or their environment. In Sincero’s article Nature and Nurture De bate she discusses arguments for both sides, saying behavior may be completely in a person’s genes, or it could come from experience and influence. Many people believe â€Å"that the criminal acts, tendencyRead MoreAnalysis Of Truman Capote s Cold Blood1868 Words   |  8 Pages In 1966, Truman Capote published a book that created an entire genre. Literary Journalism is a type of writing that uses literary techniques to tell a true story. The journalists who write these books spend years researching their subjects and some even form personal bonds with people they meet through their material collecting. Authors collect all of the information they can find about something they are interested in, and then write a book that is factually accurate, yet is written like a fictitiousRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture Essay1612 Words   |  7 PagesNature vs. Nurture Essay Throughout many years, scientists have been debating about whether nature or nurture is the driving force that shapes a person’s cognitive abilities and personal traits. Before the ongoing debate can be explained, it is necessary to understand what nature and nurture actually are. Nature is loosely defined as the genetics one inherits and tendencies that influence development. Many things in an individual are hereditary, for instance; gender, disease, height, eye color,Read MoreNature Vs Nurture : Nature Versus Nurture1360 Words   |  6 PagesNature vs Nurture Nature versus nurture is a complicated subject to speak about. If one’s abilities or lack of are due to their environment or their genes. For example, a child is behaving negatively in class. Many individuals are quick to jump to the conclusion that â€Å"Oh, that kid’s parents don’t care, or just don’t know how to raise their child.† That could very well be a possibility, but most people never think that maybe they have a hereditary problem, such as ADHD, that was passed