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The Body And The Earth By Wendell Berry

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In Wendell Berry’s chapter, The Body and the Earth, he discusses the connection between all earthly inhabitants, and its descent into misguided chaos by impact of time, evolution, and industry. He uses evidence from historical literature, religious mindset, the development of gender roles and consumerism of the 1950s, and how one defines love, marriage, and interconnectedness between what Berry calls “members of Creation.” His opinions of sexual monogamy and the importance of self-discovery via entrance into the “wilderness” are expressed clearly, but as the essay moves through each sub-chapter, his explanations become scattered and difficult to follow. For example, Berry’s ideas on religion and the relationship between body and soul as …show more content…

To say we are insignificant is not to say we do not have unique qualities, but rather gives perspective to our design. Creation provides a space for human intellectual growth but cannot be mastered by humanity. He continues into the next sub-chapter, how one can “measure” him or herself within Creation. By acceptance of our place in the universe, we are whole. Berry’s mention of the farmer and an understanding of his farm is a constant theme in this essay. Agriculture, a distribution of products born from the earth and its entrance into our bodies as nourishment, describes an interdependence. The development of highways, industry, and daily routine of work and obligation, has caused a romanticization of wilderness. High mountain tops and deep forests are sold as “scenic.” Berry reminds the reader that wilderness had once bred communities and civilization, and that by direct use of the land, we are taught to respect and surrender to it. But by invention of skyscrapers, airplanes, we are able to sit higher than these mountain tops and this is his first representation of disconnect from Creation. Mechanical invention leads one to parallel themselves with godliness, magnifying self worth and a sense of significance. What is misunderstood is that through this magnification, because there is no control or limit, we “raise higher the cloud of megadeath.” Our significance is not proved by the weight of our material wealth, rather

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