It is necessity for men and women to coexist with nature in this world. While it is not necessity to write, it is valuable for men and women to place their thoughts on paper, as a means to actively reflect and to share. Seeing as nature plays such an influental role in the lives on men and women (although that influence loses its hold on the masses year by year) it is not surprising to read countless recollections of nature by men and women alike. I am tempted to say that it is because of nature itself that one chooses a certain light to portray the nature that surrounds them. But it is unlikely that the physical environment truly holds the power to influence a writer's portrait of nature. Instead, the writer's personality holds much more power of the words that transform nature into writing. I see this to be true straight off the bat from William Bradford. Bradford was a Pilgrim, one with very strong beliefs in Puritan values. To him, nature was wild, beastly, unsophisticated and primal. This is held true in The Scarlet Letter, where Bradford's descendests consider the forest to be the house of the devil. Regardless of the beauty that natures holds, the breathtaking vistas, the santicity of life, Bradford holds Cape Cod to be "a hideous and desolate wilderness," with nothing of value. While this is in part because of his experience with nature, it can be much more accounted with the fact that Bradford cannot convert the forest, he cannot civilize it. Henry Beston is as different as Bradford as two people can be, in respect to their interpretations of nature. On the Atlantic coast, Beston sees the same trees, the same ocean and the same views as Bradford. But his mindset and personality are completely different. While nature is a setback to Bradford, Beston moved into his cottage with the mindset that he can learn from nature. Politics aside, I was struck by Bestons claim that "creation is here and now," and I have to agree. Beston understands the the forces of nature are constant and permanent. Bradford was wrong in thinking that nature should be civilized. Beston is right in realizing that life should include reverence for nature. Sir Francis Bacon understood the same thing, 300 years earlier.
So few people it seems, really appreciate nature for what it is worth. Ronald Reagan, a man that could influence the greater part of United States and parts of the world saw nature as a resource. He thought that "a tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?" Most people would rather "stay at home with the TV and a case of beer" than spend time outside. There is almost a stigma against nature, and it seems to be because of power. Human conquests, whether against nature or other humans are always against power. Most people think that they are above nature, that they can destroy or domesticate it. Therefore, their personality shapes their thoughts and writings on nature because they have such a negative view on it. However, "a lawn is nature under totalitarian rule," that is to say, nature is meant to be free and in control, to be appreciated. Charles Bowden, who rants, almost incomprehensibly, submits himself to the higher power of nature as does Edward Abbey. Their personalities are gifted with understanding and their writing is influenced by this understanding and it allows them to cast nature in the light it deserves. The only necessity left is a common respect throughout the world, to recognize, respect and protect the nature that is today. If not, as Flannery suggests with his analysis of Earth's recovery from the asteroid, non-human life can alwasy spring back, nature will always win.
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