The Holistic Ecosystem In The Writings Of Temple Grandin

A Synthesis Analysis of the “Holistic Ecosystem” in the Writings of Temple Grandin, Aldo Leopold, Janisse Ray, Henry Thoreau, Pam Houston, and Jack London

This synthesis essay will define the important aspects of a holistic ecosystem in the interdependence of human beings and other life forms in the natural world. Grandin’s “Wildlife” and Leopold “Thinking like a Mountain” define the physical relationship that define the oneness of nature, which can simply be divided into parts that can exist on their own merit. In a more human related synthesis of holistic ecosystems, Ray’s “Forest Beloved”, Thoreau’s “Solitude”, Houston’s “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky”, and London’s “To Build a Fire” define the interrelationship between animals and human

The interconnection between all life forms and the resources that bring life are part of the holistic ecosystem that Thoreau finds at Walden Pond, and even in the rain that falls outside his door: “”the gentle rain which waters my beans and keeps me in the house today is not drear or melancholy, but good for me too” (James and Merickel 380). In this manner, Thoreau’s mental state is defined by his understanding of the helpfulness of water to provide him with food, and to appreciate the rainy day as a gift that also gives him life. More so, the rain is not “drear” or “melancholy” as most people think it might be, since human beings need the food and the sustenance to live. In Ray’s short story “Forest Beloved”, the very same interconnected with nature defines the spiritual aspects of human beings as part a holistic consciousness in ecosystems: “There’s this strange current of energy running skyward, like a thousand tiny bells tied to your capillaries, ringing with your heartbeat” (377). This elegant description of the “oneness” of nature is defined through the mental capacity of human beings to interact and co-exist with other living things. Ray, much like Thoreau, define the mental and spiritual aspects of the natural world that define a holistic ecosystem and the

In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, the struggle between a man and a dog that defines the life and death struggle to survive in the frozen lands of the Yukon Territory. The story describes the struggles oft the man to build a fire in these extremely cold conditions, which illustrate the seemingly dualistic life/death dualism of man versus Nature. However, a dog patiently follows the man wherever he goes, which also illustrates the tendency of life to seek out other forms of life in these dire conditions: “It did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man’s place in the universe” (James and Merickel 302). However, the prideful man must deal with the dog that follows him, as a lack of food eventually drives him to attempt to kill the dog. When he fails, he succumbs to hunger, cold, and eventually death. Ironically, it is the dog that will enjoy the man’s remains, as part of the circle of life and death in the ecosystem. This is one way in which the holistic ecosystem of nature is defined the way man and animal must co-exist to survive. In Pam Houston’s “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky”, the very same winter conditions that London’s short story define the struggle to survive in a blizzard, and the cooperation that is needed between dogs and human beings to co-exist and survive. The unknown