Environmentalists
EnvironmentalistsBill McKibben and Edward Abbey are both modern environmental writers who have had a noticeable impact on the environmental movement. One of Abbey’s novels, The Monkey Wrench Gang, was an inspirational piece for some of the founders of Earthfirst!, a far-left environmentalist group. McKibben’s most famous novel, The End of Nature (1989), is more widely read than any other nature book since Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring. Abbey, who is commonly associated with the Southwest,a has often been described as possessing a bitter but passionate attitude. A past including careers as a ranger and a firefighter indicate his attachment to the wilderness that he considers “our natural home” is something very real to him. His concept of “Eco-Defense”, in which he gives environmentalists a right to protect their home, is an original and unique way of thinkng of environmental protectionism. McKibben shows us the damage we have done to the natural world and makes a plea for an end. He was born to two journalist parents, married a journalist, and wrote for and edited the The New Yorker . Abbey and McKibben write differently but they are bonded in that they both demand change.
Abbey and McKibben would agree that something is wrong with America’s attitude toward the environment. However, Abbey’s writing invites doing battle with those who invade the forests while McKibben simply tries to point out that there is a problem and that something radical must be done to eliminate it at its base. Abbey’s essay, Eco-Defense, and McKibben’s essay, Not So Fast both ask the reader to act radically. However, Abbey writes as if to de-emphasize the radicalism of his solution while McKibben is blunt as he explains that the only sane option is something that is contradictory to societies current values. Both McKibben and Abbey’s audiences have proven them to be effective as persuasive writers. What is it about their writing that makes it work?
Abbey’s writing is intended to stir the reader’s instincts. He begins his essay with an example of self-defense in the home. This is something that most people can come together and agree on. Abbey writes, “Self-defense against attack is one of the basic laws not only of human society but of life itself, not only of human life but of all life.” This principle is the basis of the entire essay because it is the moral justification for what he later asks the reader to do. The rest of the essay focuses on applying the concept of home to the wilderness, and the concept of the invader to those who contribute to the eradication of the wilderness.
Abbey writes with little factual basis. It is possible he considers himself writing to an audience that already is knowledgeable about how the government, media, and “three-piece-suited gangsters” of corporate America are essentially slashing and burning our natural home. Instead he uses his...
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