Edward Abbey and Leslie Marmon Silko

Edward Abbey’s “The First Morning” describes Abbey’s experiences with nature while watching the sunrise. Abbey has a deep connection with nature, more so than with humans at times. (“I’d sooner exchange ideas with the birds on earth than learn to carry on intergalactic communications with some obscure race of humanoids…”)

Abbey’s use of imagery and personification in describing the scene around him connected me to his writing. At times it seems as if Abbey is the only human on earth. (“I put on a coat and step outside. In the center of the world, God’s navel, Abbey’s country, the red wasteland.”) This sense of seclusion is almost peaceful. I believe that Abbey prefers the quiet life over the hustle and bustle most of us are used to.

In Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Landscape, History, and the Pueblo Imagination,” a spiritual viewpoint is expressed. Silko portrays nature and life as fragile. Silko believes that all forms of life should be treated with care, and that all forms of life are connected since they are all derived from the Earth.

Silko said that when an animal or plant dies their body decomposes and is born to become something else.

Personally, I felt more of a connection to Abbey’s writing. He seems to have a great sense of appreciation for the land around him. The way he writes makes it seem like it is only him and nature, and it seems almost peaceful, not having to deal with the “obscure race of humanoids.”