“the Obligation to Endure”

“The Obligation to Endure” by Rachel Carson is an essay which highlights how modern chemical practices can lead to serious environmental and health problems. Within past and present centuries man has acquired significant technology to alter the world. The author would like to point out that we cannot go on living as we now do. Taking nature for granted can ultimately lead to man’s and nature’s end. It is my opinion that the title of this essay is both appropriate and clear with its meaning. The essay starts out with the statement “The history of life on earth has been an interaction between living things and their surroundings” (Carson, pg. 57). On the other hand, it closes with “The obligation to endure gives us the right to know” (Carson, pg. 6). These are good statements that give the reader an idea of what can be expected. However, there were times when it seemed as if the author was backing up her opinion with facts that were not necessarily factual. For example, “I contend that we have allowed these chemicals to be used with little or no advance investigation of their affect on the soil (Carson, pg. 6) is totally false. Chemicals have to be tested for a minimum of seven years before they can even be marketed. In her essay “The Obligation to Endure”, Rachel Carson alerts the public to the dangers of modern industrial pollution. She writes about the harmful consequences of lethal materials being released into the environment. She uses horrifying evidence, a passionate tone, audience, and the overall structure of her essay to express to her readers that the pollution created by man wounds the earth. There are many different ways that pollution can harm the environment, from the nuclear explosions discharging toxic chemicals into the air, to the venomous pesticides sprayed on plants that kills vegetation and sickens cattle. The adjustments to these chemicals would take generations. Rachel…show more content… This is an efficient strategy. It makes her audience want to get involved and preserve the natural resources the environment has to offer. In her essay she describes the devastating effects chemicals have on the environment with such conviction; it might make the reader feel obligated to make changes in his or her own life to help the natural world. Rachel Carson uses an assertive tone to get her point across. She has a one-sided argument and is very aggressive to those who oppose her point of view. She is very effective at stating her opinion to her audience. In her essay Rachel Carson targets anyone who will listen as her audience. She wants to inform human beings of the effects chemicals have on the environment. Rachel Carson’s audience had little knowledge of the effects radiation and pesticides might have on nature or to themselves. She successfully enlightened her audience to the harm man was causing to the environment not only presently, she also wrote of future ramifications. She predicts “Future historians may well be amazed by our distorted sense of proportion. How could intelligent beings seek to control a few unwanted species by methods that contaminated the entire environment…?” (Carson 615). This statement might make her audience scrutinize their actions through the eyes of future generations. Rachel Carson used cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, and