The Damnation Of A Canyon Summary

What does a man do when the canyon that he so dearly loves is transformed into an unrecognizable monstrosity at the hands of others that have no affinity to the area they have destroyed? Some may bemoan the destruction, yet lament that what’s done is done and move on. Others may voice their concerns with the unsightliness they see. However, rarely does one voice their views in such a poignant and direct way as to grab the attention of the reader and powerfully force the writer’s views into the mind of the reader. The essay “The Damnation of a Canyon” by Edward Abbey is a revealing look into the mind of an environmental activist and his dissatisfaction with man’s detrimental impacts on the environment and the natural world. Edward Abbey is acclaimed

He wrote, in part, about the human condition and man’s role in the disregard and destruction of the natural world. In essence, he favored the environment in its natural state and saw the elimination of its beauty as another means of control by the rich and powerful. To Abbey the damming of Lake Powell was a damn thing, not good for anyone or anything except the “upper-middle-class American slob” (99) and he abhorred the technological society that develops at the expense of nature’s environmental resources. This disdain is captured perfectly in the double entendre used to encapsulate the subject laid out before us by Abbey: The Damnation of a

In some circles he was known as the Thoreau of the West and wrote extensively on both the beauty and the loss of nature brought about by the hands of man (Miller). His essay “The Damnation of a Canyon” serves as an implicit tale of what once was and what is no more. His objective was to show the reader that man had, through his own actions, destroyed what was created over vast expanses of time. The essay was meant to convey the devastation as it currently stands, yet it was not specifically written to be a hopeless tale of destruction lacking a happy ending. And though there may not be a happy ending specifically at the end of the essay, what does remain is a way forward, however unlikely, in which man could ultimately regain the lost peacefulness and beauty that once thrived in Glen Canyon. While the essay may have held some bias in favor of nature because of Abbey’s leanings towards the environment, his overall argument still rings true: The enjoyment and wonder of Glen Canyon has been lost due to man’s damning or damming of the area. This has made it more costly and unattractive than it was before the dam was constructed. Therefore, the only way to restore it to its former glory would be to destroy Glen Canyon Dam and give the area back to its rightful owner: Mother