The global concern of environmental degradation and pollution has become a very real issue in recent years, and its existence can no longer be denied. The takeover of the wellbeing of the environment by monopolies and large companies is unfortunately now a common occurrence at the expense of the average global citizen’s health. In Kerri Arsenault’s memoir Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains, Arsenault utilizes the genre of environmental storytelling, a genre of storytelling that is emotionally moving and expands the reader’s comprehension of ecology, in order to convey the complexities of her relationship with her hometown of Mexico, Maine and the paper mill that resides in one town. Throughout this work, Arsenault recounts her own childhood …show more content…
In regards to this repetition, “downstream” refers to the pollution in the town’s river, “bloodstream” refers to the toxins released in the air that make its way into people’s bodies, and “stream of consciousness” refers to the acknowledgement of the government’s wrongdoings. Beyond this passage, Arsenault continually references various instances of streams, primarily in terms of the river, which reveals a certain fixation on the contamination of the stream that Arsenault highlights as a substantial piece of evidence that the government is sacrificing the health of the town’s ecology while reaping the benefits. Arsenault fails to recall a time where the river, nor the peoples’ bloodstreams, were ‘clean’ and explores the possibility of the dioxin inducing epigenetic changes that are passed down for generations. Thus the “stream” becomes figuratively associated with the motif of pollution as these toxins are “streaming” through the environment. Arsenault’s repeated mention of the topic illustrates her frustration in not knowing how to fix it, especially with peoples’ lives on the
In Beyond Nature’s Housekeepers, Nancy Unger synthesizes a trans-historical and cultural synthesis of American women’s experience and their relationship with the environment in her 333 pg book. The language she uses in capable of being grasped by someone from any back ground. Unger text contains thoughtful connections between the exploitations of capitalism, failures of legislation, gender oppression, racism, and environmental justice. Unger's purpose is to show that these connections have been as relevant to U.S. history and how it is still affecting modern environmental relationships. Beyond Nature's Housekeepers is an extensive examination that employs
Society portrays the Earth as a resource, a place that provides an abundance of tools that are beneficial to one’s way of living. As time continues on, humanity’s definition of sustainability with the ecosystem becomes minor, meaning that it is not essential to their own lives. Thus, leading to the environment becoming polluted and affecting the human population. These ideas are demonstrated through these four sources: “Despair Not” by Sandra Steingraber, which provides the author’s perspective on the environmental crisis in terms of climate change.
The Grassy Narrows people have a long, deeply rooted history in the environmental justices movement. Rodgers (2009) points to a number of environmental justice struggles such as the fight against the harmful effects of mercury poisoning and the Minamata disease associated with it (para. 1-3), the Ontario Hydro dams that destroyed part of the wild rice harvest and degraded the habitat of fish and fur animals, as well as the displacement of the community (due to relocation into prefabricated houses where electricity and running water were promised) and the culture shock it created (para. 4). He also discusses the successful blockade in 2002, which is the longest-lasting blockade in Canadian history (para. 28)—an example that shows how employing legal methods were critical in the struggle against environmental injustices for this community. There are a number of other issues that will be discussed in the following paragraphs; the above are just a few of the injustices the Grassy Narrows community face.
As soon as the novel begins, we are introduced to the concept of saving the environment. The book begins with the narrator explaining his life-long dream of helping the world. He says that the cultural revolution of the 1960’s contributed to his ambition. However, as time went on he
Sandra Steingraber, an ecologist and author of the essay “Despair Not”, focuses her essay on the ongoing environmental issues, “In fact, the
The Massacre River was, in fact, Danticat’s inspiration to write the book (Wachtel 108). She sees the river as “both sad and comforting” in Hispaniola’s history (Wechtel 107). The river is both a site of grief and a site of hope. Although so many people have died in the river, Haitians still use it to “cleanse their labor’s residue off their bodies, reconnect with their community, and pay homage to their dead” (Shemak 96). Danticat also sees the river as dividing between torment and hope (Bell xi). This idea of water being both divisive and comforting is prominent throughout the novel.
The first two acts of this film are truly inspiring because they capture the "fire" of the environmental movement. It chronologically begins by discussing the origins of conservative environmentalists, to documenting the details of successful environmental movements, and concluding by explaining the merging of civil rights with environmentalists. Ultimately, “A Fierce Green Fire “serves as a dynamic call for the continuing action of protecting and conserving our biosphere.
Sethe left Sweet Home pregnant with Denver, "and ran off with no one's help" (p.224). She ran scared and fearful of the trackers following her trail. Sethe met Amy Denver, a white woman, on her way to Ohio. Amy helped Sethe find the Ohio River. The river was "one mile of dark water.[and] it looked like home to her and the baby"(p.83). When Amy left, Sethe traveled downstream and met Stamp Paid. He helped her and Denver cross the river to freedom.&nbs away the memories of Sweet Home and began her life with Denver at 124. Water represents the transition of Sethe's slave life to her life of freedom. Again, water has cleansed the soul of the sin of slavery. The river is now a barrier. It separates Sethe's life of slavery, to her new life of freedom. Water introduces the end of Sethe's life without Beloved and the transformation of Beloved from a spirit to a physical being. Beloved emerged from the river fully clothed and nineteen years old. Beloved's emergence from the river symbolizes her new life in the world. She was no longer trapped in 124; she was human once again. Beloved had "new skin, lineless and smooth, including the knuckles of her hands" (p.50). She was new and unused.
In the story “I am a Native of North America”, the narrator talks about how people have forgotten the past and how we are not listening to the past. The man also stated that the environment was once clean, but is being destroyed. One reason why we shouldn’t ignore how they once treated the environment is because he had talked about how we are poisoning the Earth with pollution. If we were to ignore this, the world could die if we continue to pollute the air with toxic chemicals. Secondly, the author started talking about how we
In 1989, seventy five percent of Americans identified themselves as environmentalists, and the number has continued to grow since then (Walls 1). Environmentalism is now the most popular social movement in the United States, with over five million American families donating regularly to environmental organizations (Walls 1). Environmentalists today focus on what kind of world they hope to see in the future, and largely deal with limiting pollution and changing consumption rates (Kent 1 and 9). Modern environmentalists also have much different issues than those Carson’s America faced. With climate change becoming more threatening each year, protection of the natural world is needed more than ever. Pollution has caused the warmest decade in history, the deterioration of the ozone layer, and species extinction in extreme numbers (Hunter 2). It not only threatens nature, but also human populations, who already suffer from lack of clean water and poisoning from toxic chemicals (Hunter 16). Unlike environmental actions in the 1960’s, which were mostly focused on protection, a massive increase in pollution has caused efforts to be focused on environmental restoration (Hunter 16). Like in the time of Silent Spring, environmentalists are not only concerned with one country. Protecting the environment remains a global issue, and every nation is threatened by the
Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, is a great example of an environmental text that addresses both the usefulness and limitations of Buell’s criteria. This climate fiction or cli-fi novel sets the tone and raises awareness about the major threats of climate change. It is set in the future when globalization falls apart and the world is in a genetically engineered nightmare where the oil-based market has failed. Bacigalupi’s book is a great novel to emphasize the blind spot of emotional experience that is created by the close symbiotic relationship between the environment and people and how this relationship resonates. This novel also provides a perfect example of work that fits in line with each of Lawrence Buell’s criteria and certainly qualifies as an “environmental” text.
Hawken writes that the movement, a collective gathering of nonconformists, is focused on three basic ambitions: environmental activism, social justice initiatives, and indigenous culture’s resistance to globalization. The principles of environmental activism being closely intertwined with social justice rallies. Hawken states how the fate of each individual on this planet depends on how we understand and treat what is left of the planet’s lands, oceans, species diversity, and people; and that the reason that there is a split between people and nature is because the social justice and environmental arms of the movement hav...
It is a melancholy object to those who travel through this great country to see isolated corners of this fair realm still devoted to protecting the environment. The wretched advocators of these ideals are frequently seen doling out petitions and begging at their neighbours’ doors to feed their obsession, which keeps them in the contemptible poverty that they so richly deserve.
In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the river stands as a symbol of endlessness, geographical awareness, and the epitome of the human soul. Hughes uses the literary elements of repetition and simile to paint the river as a symbol of timelessness. This is evident in the first two lines of the poem. Hughes introduces this timeless symbol, stating, “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (Hughes 1-2). These opening lines of the poem identifies that the rivers Hughes is speaking about are older than the existence of human life. This indicates the rivers’ qualities of knowledge, permanence, and the ability to endure all. Humans associate “age” with these traits and the longevity of a river makes it a force to be reckoned with. The use of a simile in the line of the poem is to prompt the audience that this is truly a contrast between that ancient wisdom, strength, and determination of the river and the same qualities that characterize a human being. The imagery portrayed in the poem of blood flowing through human veins like a river flows ...
Withgott, J., & Brennan, S. (2011). Environment: the science behind the stories (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.