Dangers Of Pesticides In Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Pesticides are chemicals that are put on crops but can kill people or make them very sick. In the story “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson she talks about the dangers of a pesticide called DDT. Carson’s writing is helping inspiring people to solve the problem. To begin, the land used to be beautiful. For instance, the land described in the story was described as ‘perfect.’ On paragraph 1, page 363, it states, “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.” This is relevant because as the story progresses the land turns into a disaster. This brings on the topic of the land being affected by pesticides. On paragraph 3, page 364, the author says, “Then a strange blight crept

For example, the doctor’s in the town have no clue what swept the town and what caused everyone to become sick. In paragraph 3, page 364, it said,“ In the town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained deaths, not only among adults but even among children, who would be stricken suddenly while at play and die within a few hours.” This has a significance tie to the story because it shows that the pesticides were causing unexplainable deaths and even doctors to not find out what was happening or a cure. In addition, even animals were dying or getting sick. On paragraph 4, page 364 it explains, “The birds, for example where had they gone? Many people spoke of them, puzzled and disturbed. The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.” This is important because it not only were people getting sick and dying but animals were