essay: True Value

Halie Cousineau English 308J
Writing About Reading 1/24/1

True Value
Aldo Leopold’s “Thinking Like a Mountain” from his awarding book the A Sand County Almanac and Douglas Adams’ “Sifting through the Embers” from his book Last Chance to See may seem like stories about two different subjects when first read. Aldo Leopold uses his character’s memory, of shooting and watching a wolf die, to show how the character came to his epiphany: some human actions can change an ecosystem completely, such as hunting wolves in areas have made the deer population inflate dramatically which can also change the plant life. While Douglas Adams uses his story, a woman trying to sell important books for a high price that no one will buy, then burns them and increases the price until someone pays an extraordinary price just to save the last one, to show how humans do not care for objects, like the environment, as much until it is almost gone. When I read the stories again I found that although the books’ ‘second meanings’ are not the exact same message, one is about how humans actions have nonlinear effects and the other shows the high price of not paying attention to something until it is gone, but I do feel that they both express issues dealing with human’s reactions on ecosystems and the idea of true value.
“Thinking Like a Mountain” was one of the more impactful sections I have read about human influence on the environment. Aldo Leopold uses a personal account of watching “a fierce green fire dying in her eyes”(Leopold 89); the story of watching a wolf die, to create a personal connection to nature dying. I also think the deeper message is the idea of humans purposely changing their surrounds can have unanticipated negative affect. “I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view” (Leopold 89). He uses the mountain, as a symbol of the Earth saying the Earth only listens, it does not act. However, humans don’t think like the mountain because they don’t ‘listen’: “We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness” (Leopold 89) and humans don’t think of what their actions will react into. I found this to be similar to Douglas Adams’ “Sifting through the Embers” because the people’s actions in the book have an unanticipated negative affect.
In “Sifting through the Embers” the books that contained all the knowledge and wisdom of the world represent the environment. Due to ignorance the humans let the books be destroyed until there is only one left, this not only shows that humans tend to only value something until it is rare or gone but also that the true value of something is not calculated until it is gone. Aldo Leopold also shows this in his piece “Thinking Like a Mountain” by showing what killing off most of the wolves did: "I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anemic desuetude, and then to death"(Leopold 89). Aldo Leopold did not realize the value of a balanced ecosystem until it was ruined and Douglas Adams did not consider the value of the books until all but one was gone.
The "strange old beggar woman" who sold the books in “Sifting through the Embers” and the mountain in “Thinking Like a Mountain” may be different charters but they symbolize a similar thing. As stated before the mountain can be interrupted as the Earth and although I do not think see the book seller to be Earth I do interrupt her as someone who understands the true value of the books as the mountain understood the true value of the wolves; " Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf"(Leopold 88). But I also feel that the book seller could represents human actions on the environment; she keeps burning the books until they are almost gone and the city people become aware of their reaction they have on her and that she will not stop until they change their mind and make an action to stop her. This shows that humans make choices that have effects but nothing will change until an action is made to stop reverse what has been done. I feel that these characters start to show the second meaning to the stories.
I find that the second meaning to both of these stories important to look at as well their shared message. “Thinking Like a Mountain” not only shows the value of a naturally balanced ecosystem but it also shows that humans may not think about the lasting effect of their choices. By killing the wolves off there was hope for more deer, not only did this result in an unhealthy ecosystem but it also had an unanticipated effect on the deer; "In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for deer herd, dead of its own too-much, bleach with the bones of the dead sage, or molder under the high-lined junipers"(Leopold 89). “Sifting through the Embers” did not have as strong of a second meaning but I do feel that it is an important part of the story. It is telling the reader to look at things and consider the importance before the chance is passed by and also to consider what is valuable to oneself. In the story the people of the city thought the woman selling the books of knowledge and wisdom was crazy because of what she thought the books were worth; " They said she obviously had no conception of the value of gold"(Adams 446). However in the end they pay more for one book than all twelve where first offered for, therefore the city people were the ones who mistook what they values and only realized the truth until it was almost gone.
I do think that both stories have different messages but they can still be related. One story shows how humans’ actions have a rippled effect and the other shows the high price of not paying attention to something until it is gone. But, they both show the need to consider the true value of things and until something is gone or almost gone we humans don’t see its value. Our ignorance lets us not care that we are changing the world and we will have to pay a price. I for one do not want to be the city people in “Sifting through the Embers” at the end of the story being told the old lady, or the mountain which ever you prefer, "and you should have seen the rest of it"(Adams 447).