Robert Pyle's The Thunder Tree

The Thunder Tree
Many people who live in urban environments are fascinated about the wilderness through television, but never take a step outside to interact with the nature surrounding them. People who alienate themselves from nature, are unaware that the loss of direct contact is one of the greatest causes of ecological crisis. One lesson that Robert Pyle has mentioned in his book The Thunder Tree is that our culture lacks the intimacy with the living world. If we do not have direct contact with nature we lose the importance it holds because we allow ourselves to only imagine what it is like to have direct contact with nature. This lesson is important to Pyle because this mass disaffection in our culture is foreshadowing apathy for the condition of earth. This lesson is important to me personally because I now have a deeper understanding of nature and it helped change my perspective of what I thought was my environment.
In the chapter “The Extinction of Experience” Pyle expressed that many people lack personal contact with nature.
As seen in the text, “People who care conserve; people who don’t know don’t care. What is the extinction of the condor to a child who has never known a wren?”(Pyle, 136). The extinction of experience was not only about humans losing personal contact with nature but the delicate balance between nature and humans being disrupted from the construction of the urban setting. There are people such as Mike Houck who has made an effort to get the community involved in cleaning up the cities and urban stream restoration. Pyle believes that if we had more people like Mike to help preserve nature and educate, then the source of our own experiences with nature will be
safer.
There are a numerous amount of people who barely know about nature because they are stuck in the urban way of life. Pyle feels that we must have a deep connection with nature to care about the damages that are possible over time. “If the penalty of an ecological education is to live in a world of wounds…then green spaces like these are the bandages and the balm. And if the penalty of ecological ignorance is still more wounds, then the unschooled need them even more.” (Pyle, 141) To clarify Pyle wants society to educate the ignorant people so that everyone can learn to conserve the wilderness. Within the text Pyle compared and contrasted two birds, the Brown Pelican to the Black skimmers. The Brown Pelican fished by slamming into the sea to catch the fish, whereas the Black Skimmer would just dip there bills into the sea to catch the fish. This example he chose in the text was compared to how there are people who are eco-friendly and aware about nature. However some people who are naturalist are like the skimmers, they do not have the intimate contact with nature. After reading this novel the message that stood out to me is that it is never too late to care. Coming from an urban setting you are not exposed to nature as opposed to someone who is from a rural environment. In the city of Philadelphia there are people who campaign and stand on almost every corner in the downtown area of Philadelphia, however not that many people care enough to stop and listen about the endangered species and the deforestation that is effecting our world. Deforestation does not personally affect me, so it is easy for me not to feel sympathetic but not to do anything to prevent it. Growing up in a city, natural awareness is not advertised or forced upon you to care. In Philadelphia the most eco-friendly item that is commercialized is the recycle bins that are right next to the trash can. Who knows if people really care enough to take time out to put plastic or glass in the recycling bins? I agree with the author because if you are not educated about the consequences we could face on earth, then it is easy for you to not take action. On the other hand you cannot force society to care, it has to be a personal connection with nature somewhere. In conclusion, the author Robert Pyle enlightened readers through his lessons of why nature is important to the world. The lesson that stood out to me was how ignorant people are about nature and how our settings can affect our affection for natural things. Pyle expressed that the personal contact with nature, means much more than watching a nature program on the television. As I said before, living in a society where nature is not advertised I was also ignorant to the importance of nature and how it affects our world. If more people were educated enough and encouraged to find their own ditch, I believe that the possibilities of a greener earth would be achievable.

Works Cited
Pyle, Robert .The Thunder Tree. Eugene Oregon: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print