Wendell Berry and Fredrick Turner's Views on Human Relationships with Nature

Wendell Berry and Fredrick Turner’s Views on Human Relationships with Nature

Many of the readings that we have studied in class have discussed the idea of human beings and our relationships with nature. The different authors we’ve studied and the works we’ve analyzed share different views of this relationship – a very interesting aspect to study. Human relationships with nature are truly timeless – nature can have the same effects on humans now as it did millions of years ago. Two of the works in particular which offered differing views on this relationship were “Entrance to the Woods” by Wendell Berry and “The Invented Landscape” by Frederick Turner.

“Entrance to the Woods” is about a man who goes camping in the wilderness one weekend to take a needed vacation from his hectic urban lifestyle. On the trip, the narrator realizes his symbolic place in the woods, as well as the place that mankind has made in the world. He struggles with the negative effects that come from urbanization and the relentless progress for both mankind and nature. Berry’s genius lies in his use of diction to seamlessly use both the natural and activist personas, creating a stance and an image that leads the reader to his own thoughts, which have been manipulated by his perspective. While settling into the woods, his pace gets slower and he becomes aware of his surroundings. The natural world around him helps him realize that man must slow down and pay attention to the harmful effects of quick actions, such as rushing into a war or tearing up precious land for harmful coal mining. As he is able to fully stop and look around, he’s able to think clearly. The distractions of his hectic life are swallowed up by the peaceful calmness of the woods. Berry stat...

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... the harmful effects that we will experience later on. It is important that we do our best to preserve the incredible natural landscape we’ve been given, and not destroy it rapidly, as we have tended to do.

Regardless of some of the differing views between the two authors, both Berry and Turner seem to share the belief that an unchanging natural landscape with which humans can develop a healthy and peaceful relationship is most ideal. The timelessness, calmness, and welcoming aura that nature brings will forever be there for us, as long as we do not destroy it with carelessness and ignorance.

Works Cited

Baldwin, A. Dwight., Judith De Luce, and Carl Pletsch. Beyond Preservation: Restoring and Inventing Landscapes. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1994. Print.

Finch, Robert, and John Elder. The Norton Book of Nature Writing. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990. Print.