10/24 - outside reading relfection

 In my environmental english course, we are reading a novel called 'Solar Storms'. In this novel, a young woman is returned to her ancestral home that she was taken from as a child to be put into the foster care system. Her home is within a Northern tribe that lives around and on a lake. While I have not finished the novel yet, it has important elements that are relevant to our class. The main character, Angel, is recovering from her own trauma while also discovering her past and parts of her own life. She is living in the wilderness and re-learning how to relate to the world around her, which proves to be a spiritual experience. She cares for the fish and the way that they are killed in order to give her life. Those around her, in her life, have different relationships with the land as well. Her great grandmother, Agnes, was once taking care of a bear that visiting white trappers were keeping caged. She ultimately killed the bear, out of mercy, and wore its pelt in the form of a coat. This coat spoke to her, whispered to her, kept the spirit of the bear alive. 

This story is centered around the ideas of habitat and habituse that we have covered in class. Angel notes how her change in setting is changing her. Not only is she growing stronger by working and moving more, but she is becoming more sure of herself as she and a mother-figure work together to survive the long winter. The brutality of this winter, however, seems supernatural. It represents, in this story, the coldness of uncaring people, a way for the land and nature to assert its force unto those that dare to inhabit these Northern lands. Angel finds herself able to see fish through the water, while her mother-figure is able to lovingly coax sweet corn from the ground. This interplay between the setting of the novel, Angel's spiritual and mental growth, and the rediscovery of her past and heritage represent the ways that the places in which we dwell can shape us and mold us through the myths and spiritual beliefs we hold dear. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jaidan Brass -- Cheryl Strayed's Wild (12/04)

    Wild is a memoir of Cheryl Strayed during her time on the Pacific Crest Trail, also known as the PCT. the PCT is a trail that goes along the pacific coast from the bottom of California to the top of Washington. One of the things I admired most about Strayed was her courage during her months on the trail. Cheryl Strayed needed to hike the trail alone to help find herself after feeling like she lost herself after her mother’s death. In one chapter Strayed states, “Being near Tom and Doug at night kept me from having to say to myself I am not afraid whenever I heard a branch snap in the dark or the wind shook so fiercely it seemed something bad was bound to happen. But I wasn’t out here to keep myself from having to say I am not afraid” ( p. 122). One of the reasons she did the trails was to prove that she was brave enough and determined enough to this by herself. Though she did meet friends and have help along the way, she spend a majority of her time on the trail by h...
Read more

Emily Anstett 11/20 Religion and Climate Change Article Reflection

  https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27062022/religion-climate-change/ This article describes how some Rabbis are beginning to advocate for climate action and bring the problem of climate change to their congregation’s attention.  They are trying to “bridge the gap” between faith and climate.  I am interested in how western religions can adapt to incorporate more ecologically conscious views and practices.  I also think it is important to reconsider how religions dictate interactions with the environment.  For instance, the way that people interpret God giving dominion over the earth can have important implications.  For instance, does that mean that people are free to exploit and do whatever they see fit with God’s dominion? Or should humans work to cultivate this? I think this may be a point of contention that has significant ramifications on human-nature interactions.  For instance, if humans view themselves as a part of the dominion God created, ...
Read more

Jaidan Brass - Ecology of Eden Ch. 13 & 14 (12/04)

      In these two chapter, Eisenberg talks about the ranges seen between the mountain and the tower--or between wilderness and civilization. These are in examples like pastoralism, suburbia, and arcadia. They are the middle ground of the two extremes with mountains having no civilization at all and towers having no wilderness. While middle grounds tend to start out alright, they usually start failing after awhile. It's  possibly because the lifestyle was not sustainable. Pastoralism is starts degrading the soils once it gets to populated or gets overgrazed. The mountain part of suburbs can easily be lost into ideals where the community loses the reasons on why suburban areas were made. The middle ground is a delicate balance, but one many want to live in to enjoy the benefits of both the wilderness and civilization. 
Read more