The End Of The Wild Analysis
Join the Green Team The article “The End of the Wild” by Wade Davis is an article any environmentally conscious person, a person who wishes to spread awareness of the damaging effects of society’s overconsumption on the environment, should read. The Canadian born Davis holds a degree from Harvard University in Ethnobotony, a degree that examines the relationship between humans and plants. The last sentence of his third paragraph quite clearly explains his thesis; transgressions toward the environment because of human ignorance and/or greed can only be accepted and excused by society for so long, the destruction of our ecosystem is inevitable unless drastic changes are made. After reading Davis’s article I fully agree with the argument he
…show more content…
presents, the way he approaches the subject with serious and reasonable emotional appeal is very suited with the heavy topic he is writing about. Davis’s article is very effective in the use of his examples of nature already being affected by humans, his statistics integrated throughout the essay, and his tone is aptly serious with an underlay of emotional appeal; he uses well rounded forms of evidence without relying too heavily on one single form. Davis utilizes the experiences of Dr.
Musgrave. Dr. Musgrave speaks of the horror of seeing the earth from space and of the irony that he was looking at the beautiful and majestic earth, but this experience was only achieved through the destruction of that same magnificent planet. (112, Davis) The use of this testimony is a great introduction to the idea of how the earth is precious and that without even being aware of the extent of our actions society has in the past and continues to in the present destroy our planet. Davis then follows this introduction with an emotional retelling of the extinction of the passenger pigeon caused by cruel methods of hunters. He begins with the statistic that 40% of the bird population in North America was made of carrier pigeons before the extinction. This example fully encompasses Davis’s thesis of how human actions irrefutably and unalterably afflict the environment. He retells how hunters would sew the eyes of a living bird shut and bind its feet to a pole, waiting for other birds to heed its call. The carrier pigeons would come in such numbers that hunters would simply bat them out of the air with a club. (113-14, Davis) This cruel system can only be described as unnecessary disrespect of the animal
kingdom.
In his example of the dwindling buffalo population, they are not extinct but their numbers have drastically decreased since 1986. He emphasizes that what was lost can never be recovered again. Davis uses the lingering raw wounds of the mistreatment of natives to demonstrate his point that the destruction of our ecosystem has not only affected our environment, but has also directly affected humans as well. With the testimony of General Sheradin, Davis states, “a decade after native resistance had collapsed, Sheridan advised Congress to mint a commemorative medal, with a dead buffalo on one side, a dead Indian on the other.” (115, Davis) Davis also rubs some salt in those wounds by bringing to our attention that this tragedy happened within this century, proving the destruction of the environment is happening now and needs to be addressed in our life time not in the future. He further demonstrates this point by using the analogy of comparing the battle of Troy with the near extinction of the buffalo. This efficiently contrasts how humans think the buffalo tragedy is as disconnected from their lives as the battle of Troy.
Davis uses Haiti as an example of the destruction of nature as opposed to the destruction of the animal kingdom. He relies strongly on statistics supporting this example, in 1920 the forest made up 80% of the island but today the island is made up of less than 5% forest. (115, Davis) He also talks of his experience standing on a cliff with a Vodoun priest and seeing first-hand the regret this priest had over what has become of his beloved country. Davis claims that these “unmitigated eco-logical disasters [have] robbed the future of something unimaginably precious in order to satisfy the immediate and often mundane needs of the present.”(115, Davis)
In his last example he uses his own experience of logging in the British Colombian forests. Davis compares the “half-hearted trees” to the forest as an “Alberta wheat field resembled a wild prairie meadow.” (117, Davis) He uses statistics to make us aware that only 10% of the forest remains in Oregon, Washington and California regions, and only 40% remains in the British Colombia region. Davis talks about how our society tries to amend our abuse with the half -hearted attempt at replanting of trees. The anecdote that strikes me the most is of the long-time faller who ended up quitting his job because of the guilt of cutting down a giant, magnificent cedar. This man had cut down trees as a profession for years and not until late into his profession he felt the guilt. This can be interpreted as a warning that if society waits too long to change their actions, society will regret their irreparable decisions.
Davis chooses examples from history that explain clearly and concisely the key message he is demonstrating. The examples he uses do not stand on their own, Davis uses statistics, analogies and testimonies to further expand his credibility and confirm that his message is structurally sound. He establishes a serious tone by focusing on an emotional appeal, this emotional appeal is appropriate because of the serious nature of his thesis. To separate these emotional appeals from the issue is to separate emotions from our actions and the reasons why we carry out our actions. In short I think that Davis shows a well-rounded and appropriate approach to the topic of how environmental issues are affected by society.
Work Cited
Davis, Wade. “The End of the Wild.” The Clouded Leapord: A Book of Travels. New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks-I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007. 112-20.Print.
presents, the way he approaches the subject with serious and reasonable emotional appeal is very suited with the heavy topic he is writing about. Davis’s article is very effective in the use of his examples of nature already being affected by humans, his statistics integrated throughout the essay, and his tone is aptly serious with an underlay of emotional appeal; he uses well rounded forms of evidence without relying too heavily on one single form. Davis utilizes the experiences of Dr.
Musgrave. Dr. Musgrave speaks of the horror of seeing the earth from space and of the irony that he was looking at the beautiful and majestic earth, but this experience was only achieved through the destruction of that same magnificent planet. (112, Davis) The use of this testimony is a great introduction to the idea of how the earth is precious and that without even being aware of the extent of our actions society has in the past and continues to in the present destroy our planet. Davis then follows this introduction with an emotional retelling of the extinction of the passenger pigeon caused by cruel methods of hunters. He begins with the statistic that 40% of the bird population in North America was made of carrier pigeons before the extinction. This example fully encompasses Davis’s thesis of how human actions irrefutably and unalterably afflict the environment. He retells how hunters would sew the eyes of a living bird shut and bind its feet to a pole, waiting for other birds to heed its call. The carrier pigeons would come in such numbers that hunters would simply bat them out of the air with a club. (113-14, Davis) This cruel system can only be described as unnecessary disrespect of the animal
kingdom.
In his example of the dwindling buffalo population, they are not extinct but their numbers have drastically decreased since 1986. He emphasizes that what was lost can never be recovered again. Davis uses the lingering raw wounds of the mistreatment of natives to demonstrate his point that the destruction of our ecosystem has not only affected our environment, but has also directly affected humans as well. With the testimony of General Sheradin, Davis states, “a decade after native resistance had collapsed, Sheridan advised Congress to mint a commemorative medal, with a dead buffalo on one side, a dead Indian on the other.” (115, Davis) Davis also rubs some salt in those wounds by bringing to our attention that this tragedy happened within this century, proving the destruction of the environment is happening now and needs to be addressed in our life time not in the future. He further demonstrates this point by using the analogy of comparing the battle of Troy with the near extinction of the buffalo. This efficiently contrasts how humans think the buffalo tragedy is as disconnected from their lives as the battle of Troy.
Davis uses Haiti as an example of the destruction of nature as opposed to the destruction of the animal kingdom. He relies strongly on statistics supporting this example, in 1920 the forest made up 80% of the island but today the island is made up of less than 5% forest. (115, Davis) He also talks of his experience standing on a cliff with a Vodoun priest and seeing first-hand the regret this priest had over what has become of his beloved country. Davis claims that these “unmitigated eco-logical disasters [have] robbed the future of something unimaginably precious in order to satisfy the immediate and often mundane needs of the present.”(115, Davis)
In his last example he uses his own experience of logging in the British Colombian forests. Davis compares the “half-hearted trees” to the forest as an “Alberta wheat field resembled a wild prairie meadow.” (117, Davis) He uses statistics to make us aware that only 10% of the forest remains in Oregon, Washington and California regions, and only 40% remains in the British Colombia region. Davis talks about how our society tries to amend our abuse with the half -hearted attempt at replanting of trees. The anecdote that strikes me the most is of the long-time faller who ended up quitting his job because of the guilt of cutting down a giant, magnificent cedar. This man had cut down trees as a profession for years and not until late into his profession he felt the guilt. This can be interpreted as a warning that if society waits too long to change their actions, society will regret their irreparable decisions.
Davis chooses examples from history that explain clearly and concisely the key message he is demonstrating. The examples he uses do not stand on their own, Davis uses statistics, analogies and testimonies to further expand his credibility and confirm that his message is structurally sound. He establishes a serious tone by focusing on an emotional appeal, this emotional appeal is appropriate because of the serious nature of his thesis. To separate these emotional appeals from the issue is to separate emotions from our actions and the reasons why we carry out our actions. In short I think that Davis shows a well-rounded and appropriate approach to the topic of how environmental issues are affected by society.
Work Cited
Davis, Wade. “The End of the Wild.” The Clouded Leapord: A Book of Travels. New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks-I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007. 112-20.Print.