Silent Spring - Rachel Carson - Essay Example

Thesis statement: Rachel Carson’s work Silent Spring exposes the unfavorable relationship between the government and chemical industry by creating awareness among the mass on the negative effect of pesticides on the living world. Background information Basically, the work deals with the after effects of the use of DDT as insecticide. Rachel Carson states that, “In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world-the very nature of its life” (6).

To be specific, the inspiration behind the work was the author’s friend’s knowledge on environmental issues originating from the uncontrolled use of pesticides/insecticides. The use of DDT in author’s friend’s locality resulted in the death of thousands of living things, especially birds. So, she decided to attract the attention of the authorities towards the after effects of the use of DDT on the living world. So, she decided to write a letter to a daily newspaper named as The Boston Herald, and forwarded a copy of the letter to Carson.

This letter deeply influenced Carson’s mind and resulted in the work named as Silent Spring. Theme One can easily identify the fact that uncontrolled use of pesticides affects the sustenance of life on the earth. . Charles Piddock makes clear that, “The book, which would be called Silent Spring, described the contamination of lakes, rivers, and oceans, and the death of countless life forms” (86). One can see that almost all the factors that create imbalance in nature are interconnected with the human tendency to exploit natural resources in an uncontrollable manner.

Within this context, the uncontrollable use of DDT leads to large scale pollution and the same affects the peaceful co-existence of life on earth. In addition, the human war against insects is the war against life. The authorities are aware of the truth that insects help human beings because pollination is impossible without insects. Still, pesticides are used to kill harmless insects. On the other side, the author is aware of the fact that all the living things are connected and pesticides affect this connection.

The use of harmful pesticides cannot be tolerated because human beings are not authorized to control nature. So, the work’s theme is related to the author’s effort to educate the mass on the problems related to pesticides. Significance The significance of the work is not limited to the context of pesticides. Instead, the work’s significance extends to the context of preservation of nature. Conor Mark Jameson opines that, “Silent Spring is said to have been the spark that ignited the modern-day environmental movement” (17).

One can see that the effect of DDT is too dangerous to the living world because uncontrollable killing of insects create ecological imbalance. So, Rachel Carson’s effort is important because the chemical companies which produce DDT were forced to discontinue