The Relationship Between Human Beings and the Natural World
The human-nature relationship goes beyond the extent to which an individual considers themselves as part of nature. The connection between the two is nurtured through the ability to care for each other (Vining 87). Nature has been kind to human beings, but human beings have been on a destruction mission. The result is a longstanding conflict between the two. In the stories, “Called Out,” “My Life as a Bat,” and “Hope for Animals and Their World,” Barbara Kingsolver, Margaret Atwood, and Jane Goodall explores the concept of human-nature relationships. Kingsolver tells the story of the 1988 wildflower bloom, which was enabled by some science, while Atwood examines human inferiority that leads to the destruction of bats. However, Goodall shows that there is still hope for the world, as good people are willing to save nature. The three authors show that human beings can care, maintain, or destroy the natural world through the choices they make.
Kingsolver calls out human beings to witness the beauty of nature. When nature is beautiful, human beings are the beneficiaries of its bountifulness (Kingsolver). In the story, many people have come to the Arizona desert to witness the bloom of wildflowers. The beauty in the desert has been achieved through the efforts of scientists. The people are awed by this transformation, that such beauty could permeate a desert.
Atwood presents the cunning nature of human beings, who are out to destroy bats. In their previous life, the unnamed narrator describes how he lived his life as a bat. He mentions how man used bats to ferry atomic bombs in World War II, to bring German cities into flame. Man was their biggest enemy, as he always sought to destroy them. The reincarnation in the form of a man is a mission to rescue bats from being destroyed by man. “Perhaps I have been sent into the human form as if on a dangerous mission, to save and redeem my folk (Atwood 74). Man is portrayed as the biggest threat to the life of bats; thus, the need to act fast.
Goodall presents a ray of hope for nature and wild animals. In the story, the American crocodile, the California Condor, and the Black-Footed Ferret are on the verge of extinction. They have been marked as endangered species, and thus, it is the human being’s responsibility to save them. With the help of some environmentalists, and scientists, the animals’ population survives, and a renewed hope is born. In the story, she urges people that wilderness is an essential aspect of human life, which needs to be nurtured (Goodall 214). Human beings are the keepers of the planet, and therefore, she argues that they should make it their responsibility to care for the animals within it.
In the three stories, nature is presented in the form of environmental conservation and the presence of wild animals. Man is portrayed to have the power to create, maintain, and protect nature, as the two are dependent on each other (Vining 88). A human being is talented with the gift of science, which they can utilize to create life in the environment, as portrayed by Kingsolver. However, man is depicted as the enemy of nature as the narrator in Atwood’s story says of the man-bat relationship. Unfortunately, not many people are willing to protect wild animals, which has resulted in the extinction of many wild species.