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Save The Whales Screw The Dump By Joy Williams

Decent Essays

Summary
In her essay "Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp", Joy Williams attacks modern day indifference towards the environment, the root cause of the ecological crisis. Williams uses a satirical tone and dramatic writing to create an active dialogue between herself and the reader. She amplifies her concern for nature by showing disbelief and anger at humanity's selfish actions. Williams argues that nature has become industrialized into a commodity bringing negative impacts to the environment. Humans pay no attention to the environment around them because "it is easier to endure death without thinking about it than to endure the thought of death without dying"(139). Williams begins with a strict criticism of the reader's ignominious character; …show more content…

She explains that systemization happens because humans desire commodities causing there to be an overabundance of production. Williams explains that as long as humans pursue material goods, growth in industry is inevitable. This human desire for growth materializes itself in the form of the tourism industry, museums, zoos, and planned communities. The recomposition of nature makes humans disconnected from natural settings and turn natures into nothing more than "a scenery, a …show more content…

The line "You see a picture of a baby condor... And your heart sinks doesn't it?" directly makes readers empathize with a cute and helpless creature(139). By bluntly telling readers how they should feel Williams successfully extracts heartfelt reactions from the reader. Once Williams controls the reader's emotional state she shatters reality by explaining these "cute" and "heart sinking" moments are actually impending dooms(139). These pictures are now filled with feelings of shock and frustration and the once joyous imagery is replaced with sadness and inevitably. Her juxtaposition of beautiful scenery with inevitable claws of evils reflects the reader’s life. The modern society is filled with “happy” imagery but no one seems to care that there is no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.
Following this darker look on nature, Williams begins to question the reader on whether it is too late. These repetitive questions reaffirm the previous guilt and inevitably to recover the already impacted environment. This aggressive accusation makes readers feel as if they were the cause of the doom and persuades them to find a ray of hope. In turn, these questions also allow William to directly give suggestions on how to act in the

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