Essay --

Have you ever thought about how your fruits and vegetables are grown? How about which ingredients are put into bug sprays and insecticides to ward off those pesky insects? Look no further because author Rachel Carson looks deep into the many environmental issues caused by pesticides and herbicides in her New York Times best-selling novel, â€Å"Silent Spring.† â€Å"Silent Spring† is a collection of studies which were performed in an effort to educate others about the harmful things occurring everyday to their foods and every-day environment in hopes of giving them a wake up call. This novel is thought by many to be a revolutionary novel that forced people to take notice of the harm being caused in their world, many of which people were unaware of. After discovering the results of these chemicals, it really makes one wonder, is the luxury of being insect free really worth all of the consequences? â€Å"Silent Spring† consists of research and experiments conducted to see why wildlife was decreasing in various chemically treated areas. Carson was also interested in discovering how these chemicals affect human health as well. Carson first starts our her novel describing a world of green grass and blue skies, complete with singing birds and active wildlife. A world she says, that is what our earth used to consist of before mankind. Carson states that her reasoning for writing this novel was out of curiosity as to why and how our earth became so corrupt. She narrows it down to one reason which is the main foundation for this novel, man-made chemicals are responsible for destroying the purity of nature. â€Å"The chemicals to which life is asked to make its adjustment are no longer merely the calcium and silica and copper and all the rest of the minerals... ...ng†. I unfortunately am not an environmental junkie by any means, but this novel really opened my eyes to not only issues of the past, but also current matters as well. I learned the importance of what it means to buy organic and not only for the health benefits, but the environmental benefits as well. I was never aware of how harmful pesticides can be and although DDT may be outlawed in the United States, farmers still use other forms of insecticides to protect their plants. It horrors me that DDT was used for so long, despite the deaths it caused. I admire Rachel Carson for writing this novel and conducting research when no one else cared about the environmental harms placed on our land. Her passion about the earth is evident, and her willingness to put out such a controversial novel during this time period explains why her story is still a relevant resource today.