Nora Mertz
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
I think that there are a few different themes, or messages of The Monkey Wrench Gang, by Edward Abbey. The first theme that I picked up on was the conflicting traits of the characters. They were so passionate about the environment, and wanting to protest the destruction of it, which was good. However, they also acted extremely recklessly, endangered many people, and broke an incredible amount of laws. This balance between wanting to do good, but still doing bad in some people’s eyes is something that I touched on in my third reading post as well. I talked about how the list of the charges towards the main characters in the epilogue served as a reality check, and showed readers that although these four characters are our protagonists who we are rooting for throughout the book, they are still radical criminals.
The second theme, or message is the negative effects humans have on the environment, especially in the southwest. This is the entire plot of the book! There are many references in the book about how corporate America is corrupt because of their destruction of the environment for the soul purpose of profits. One of the main things that the four of them are protesting are the nuclear power plants.
You can also infer that the environmental messages make up the main theme of the text because this book actually influenced a real life environmentalist group. Many people view this book not only as an adventure novel, but also as a sort of call to action. An environmental group called “Earth First!” has listed Edward Abbey as an inspiration, and they also undermine authority in order to work to protect the environment, like a less radical version of the characters in the book (although the groups logo does seem to be an imitation of the communist symbol except made out of a wrench and mallet of some sort). In my opinion, if a book has this sort of effect on a group of people, it is clear that the message of the book is the preservation of the environment, specifically in the southwest.
In addition to coming to understand this theme from the plot, I can also infer that this is the message that the author wanted to convey by taking into account the authors background. Edward Abbey was a forest ranger, who spent most of his life in the southwest. He also had previously published a novel that, “established Abbey as one of the country’s foremost defenders of the natural environment”. I mean just look at the picture of the guy on the back of the book, he looks like Burt from Burt’s Bees. He was obviously passionate about the environment and the protection of the southwest desert was definitely one of the themes he was trying to convey throughout the novel.
I think that the main aspect of reading talked about by both Nabokov, Foster that I thought about while reading was the idea of “not reading with your own eyes”, as Foster says. Nabokov talks about this when he says that you first need to interpret the text for what it literally means, and only after that can you start to read into it and make connections to it. Because of the recklessness of the characters, I often found myself thinking that the stunts they were trying to pull were dumb, and that they were being too risky. However, I read trying to keep in mind what Nabokov and Foster said by trying to ignore my own instinct, and just read the book for what it is.
I would definitely recommend this book, but I think that not everyone would enjoy it as much as I did. I think that I really liked the book for two reasons, 1) I love the outdoors and learning about the environment, so reading about people who were so radically passionate about the environment was cool, and 2) I think that reading about badass criminal characters is super interesting. One of the other main reasons I enjoyed it so much was that unlike many books, it was engaging right from the beginning. It did not take 200 pages to get to the exciting parts of the plot (like Hummingbird’s daughter. Ugh!) It immediately pulled the reader in and established the four main characters very early in the book. Overall, yes I think that this was a good book and if it’s a topic that interests you then you should totally read it! (Sorry if I spoiled the ending in my third post :/ ).
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Post 3: The Ending (spoiler alert)
Nora Mertz
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times.
For my third post, I am choosing to write about the book’s epilogue, and the purpose it serves, which seems only right considering my first post was about a riveting scene to start out the book.
During the beginning of the epilogue, Abbey goes on and on about all of the criminal charges that the four of them are being accused for, “assult with a deadly wepon, simple assault, obstructing justice, arson, aggravated arson, conspiracy, unlawful transportation and use of explosives, escape from official custody”… the list goes on and on. Why would the author include this long and seemingly useless list of felonies and misdemeanors? Because it shows that although the reader may have been rooting for these four throughout the book, one cannot ignore the huge and serious crimes they committed. In addition, for me, it was a way to bring the book to a close because for each of the felonies they listed, it made me think back to the time in the book that it happened, such as the explosives and the train, which I mentioned in my last blog post.
In addition to these lists of charges, the epilogue helps to bring the book to a close in a more positive way by describing everyones lives after the court case. Although two of Smith’s wives divorce him, (he is Mormon and practices Polygamy) he still remains with his wife Susan, starts a family, and lives next door to Bonnie and Doc, who are now married and starting a family of their own. Finally, in the final pages of the book, Hayduke appears on their doorstep, whom they thought was dead. This is a complete plot twist, and results in a very happy ending to the book, with the gang all back together again, despite everything that they have been through.
The ending outlined in the epilogue shows the two sides of the characters. On the one hand, the naming of all of the felonies they have been charged with shows how big of rule breakers they were, and how much damage they did. On the other hand, the ending shows that their characters are compassionate people, who ultimately do care about each other and want to live regular lives and start a family. It leaves the reading feeling satisfied with the balance between these two conflicting sides of the Monkey Wrench Gang members. ♥
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times.
For my third post, I am choosing to write about the book’s epilogue, and the purpose it serves, which seems only right considering my first post was about a riveting scene to start out the book.
During the beginning of the epilogue, Abbey goes on and on about all of the criminal charges that the four of them are being accused for, “assult with a deadly wepon, simple assault, obstructing justice, arson, aggravated arson, conspiracy, unlawful transportation and use of explosives, escape from official custody”… the list goes on and on. Why would the author include this long and seemingly useless list of felonies and misdemeanors? Because it shows that although the reader may have been rooting for these four throughout the book, one cannot ignore the huge and serious crimes they committed. In addition, for me, it was a way to bring the book to a close because for each of the felonies they listed, it made me think back to the time in the book that it happened, such as the explosives and the train, which I mentioned in my last blog post.
In addition to these lists of charges, the epilogue helps to bring the book to a close in a more positive way by describing everyones lives after the court case. Although two of Smith’s wives divorce him, (he is Mormon and practices Polygamy) he still remains with his wife Susan, starts a family, and lives next door to Bonnie and Doc, who are now married and starting a family of their own. Finally, in the final pages of the book, Hayduke appears on their doorstep, whom they thought was dead. This is a complete plot twist, and results in a very happy ending to the book, with the gang all back together again, despite everything that they have been through.
The ending outlined in the epilogue shows the two sides of the characters. On the one hand, the naming of all of the felonies they have been charged with shows how big of rule breakers they were, and how much damage they did. On the other hand, the ending shows that their characters are compassionate people, who ultimately do care about each other and want to live regular lives and start a family. It leaves the reading feeling satisfied with the balance between these two conflicting sides of the Monkey Wrench Gang members. ♥
Post 2: Indians
Nora Mertz
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times. Throughout the book, the Indians living in the southwest play a small, yet significant role. For many parts, the Indians act as a sort of observing audience. In the scene where the bridge between Utah and Arizona breaks (the scene which I wrote my first blog post on) the Indians are the first ones to know what is happening. “Most of the crowd along the highway had only a poor view of what happened next. But the Indians up on the hillside saw it all clearly”. This already begins to show the reader, in the very beginning of the book, the role that the Indians play as an observing group of characters.
The four environmentalists have negative opinions of the Indians, Hayduke in particular, because they are “people who don’t do any harm” and they are “soft, weak, passive people”. One scene in particular shows Hayduke’s opinions when he is driving through Indian country, and noting his observations. “A blighted land, crisscrossed with new power lines, sky smudged with smoke from power plants, the mountains strip-mined, the range grazed to death, eroding away…The real trouble with the goddamned Indians, reflected Hayduke, is that they are no better than the rest of us. The real trouble is that the Indians are just as stupid and greedy and cowardly and dull as us white folks”.
At one point in the story, when Doc is trying to formalize a plan to blow up a bridge, train, and train tracks, he decides that he will “blame it on the Indians," He says, "Everybody loves Indians, now they're domesticated. So we offer a bit of a clue here and there”. This is not the only case during which the gang tries to blame the Indians. They leave graffiti to try to convince the authorities that the Indians were the ones responsible for the vandalism and damages, and Hayduke repeatedly signs these with the name, “Rudolph the Red”. The fact that the gang is trying to blame their destruction on the Indians shows that although the Indians are a minor group of people in the story, they do help to keep the authorities off their trail and they do play a significant role in the plot of the book.
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times. Throughout the book, the Indians living in the southwest play a small, yet significant role. For many parts, the Indians act as a sort of observing audience. In the scene where the bridge between Utah and Arizona breaks (the scene which I wrote my first blog post on) the Indians are the first ones to know what is happening. “Most of the crowd along the highway had only a poor view of what happened next. But the Indians up on the hillside saw it all clearly”. This already begins to show the reader, in the very beginning of the book, the role that the Indians play as an observing group of characters.
The four environmentalists have negative opinions of the Indians, Hayduke in particular, because they are “people who don’t do any harm” and they are “soft, weak, passive people”. One scene in particular shows Hayduke’s opinions when he is driving through Indian country, and noting his observations. “A blighted land, crisscrossed with new power lines, sky smudged with smoke from power plants, the mountains strip-mined, the range grazed to death, eroding away…The real trouble with the goddamned Indians, reflected Hayduke, is that they are no better than the rest of us. The real trouble is that the Indians are just as stupid and greedy and cowardly and dull as us white folks”.
At one point in the story, when Doc is trying to formalize a plan to blow up a bridge, train, and train tracks, he decides that he will “blame it on the Indians," He says, "Everybody loves Indians, now they're domesticated. So we offer a bit of a clue here and there”. This is not the only case during which the gang tries to blame the Indians. They leave graffiti to try to convince the authorities that the Indians were the ones responsible for the vandalism and damages, and Hayduke repeatedly signs these with the name, “Rudolph the Red”. The fact that the gang is trying to blame their destruction on the Indians shows that although the Indians are a minor group of people in the story, they do help to keep the authorities off their trail and they do play a significant role in the plot of the book.
Post 1: The Bridge
Nora Mertz
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times.
For my first post, I chose to analyze a scene in the book that I thought was really cool. It’s the very first chapter in the book, and it completely draws the reader into the plot. The author, Edward Abbey, manages to outline an entire scene constantly building the reader’s suspense, and then ends it with what I thought was a very surprising and unpredictable event.
The scene starts begins with Abbey describing how a large bridge between Arizona and Utah is about to be opened for the first time. Abbey builds suspense in this scene in two main ways, I believe- the temperature and the amount of people waiting for the bridge unveiling.
“Long rows of automobiles stand at the approaches, strung out for a mile to the north and south and monitored by state police on motorcycles, sullen… Five thousand people yawning in their cars intimidated by the cops and bored to acedia by the chant of the politicians. Their kids fight in the back seats… All endure though no one can bear to listen to the high-decibel racket pouring from the public-address system”. This excerpt shows that the author really establishes the suspense for both the people waiting for the bridge to open, as well as for the reader. This shows how important this event is and how many people are relying on this bridge.
The author also establishes suspense by talking about how hot it is while the people are waiting, saying, “The people wait. Sweltering in the glare, roasting in their cars bright as beetles under the soft roar of the sun. The desert sun of Utah-Arizona, the infernal flaming plasmic meatball in the sky”. This strong use of imagery really shows how the situation is ‘heating up’ (<— haha. puns.).
After many minutes of people speaking over the loudspeaker and people in their cars getting impatient and honking, there is what the author calls, (literally says this in the text, kind of weird), a climactic moment. They cut the ribbon and everyone cheers, only to realize that, “the center of the bridge rose up, as if punched from beneath, and broke in two along a jagged zig zag line.”.
Wow. 1 for the Monkey Wrench Gang. 0 for everyone else.
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4
Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey
The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times.
For my first post, I chose to analyze a scene in the book that I thought was really cool. It’s the very first chapter in the book, and it completely draws the reader into the plot. The author, Edward Abbey, manages to outline an entire scene constantly building the reader’s suspense, and then ends it with what I thought was a very surprising and unpredictable event.
The scene starts begins with Abbey describing how a large bridge between Arizona and Utah is about to be opened for the first time. Abbey builds suspense in this scene in two main ways, I believe- the temperature and the amount of people waiting for the bridge unveiling.
“Long rows of automobiles stand at the approaches, strung out for a mile to the north and south and monitored by state police on motorcycles, sullen… Five thousand people yawning in their cars intimidated by the cops and bored to acedia by the chant of the politicians. Their kids fight in the back seats… All endure though no one can bear to listen to the high-decibel racket pouring from the public-address system”. This excerpt shows that the author really establishes the suspense for both the people waiting for the bridge to open, as well as for the reader. This shows how important this event is and how many people are relying on this bridge.
The author also establishes suspense by talking about how hot it is while the people are waiting, saying, “The people wait. Sweltering in the glare, roasting in their cars bright as beetles under the soft roar of the sun. The desert sun of Utah-Arizona, the infernal flaming plasmic meatball in the sky”. This strong use of imagery really shows how the situation is ‘heating up’ (<— haha. puns.).
After many minutes of people speaking over the loudspeaker and people in their cars getting impatient and honking, there is what the author calls, (literally says this in the text, kind of weird), a climactic moment. They cut the ribbon and everyone cheers, only to realize that, “the center of the bridge rose up, as if punched from beneath, and broke in two along a jagged zig zag line.”.
Wow. 1 for the Monkey Wrench Gang. 0 for everyone else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)