69 pages • 2 hours read
Silent Spring
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Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Needless Havoc”
Carson begins developing a broader argument in Chapter 7, arguing that widespread use of chemical insecticides is a “relentless war on life” (99) that could signal the destruction of civilization. In many cases where spraying has been performed aerially, many forms of life besides the targeted organism were affected. Carson illustrates this using examples of cases where spraying was performed over large swaths of land to control the population of Japanese beetles. In all of these cases, the result was a “desolate picture of wildlife loss” (93). Yet in each case, a more effective method would have been available. Carson asks whether or not it is moral to participate in “an act that can cause such suffering to a living creature” (100) in the quest to limit the population of one specific insect.
Chapter 8 Summary: “And No Birds Sing”
One of the most devastating impacts of widespread pesticide and insecticide use is the loss of bird populations, who are one of the first living things impacted by these chemicals. Carson describes the case of the robin, which relies on the American elm. When Dutch elm disease entered the United States, “intensive spraying […] [became] a routine procedure” (106) to limit the disease. After these sprayings, evidence began coming to light that robins were being poisoned as a result of the introduction of the chemicals to their environment. Carson notes that the robins “are only one part of the chain of devastation linked to the spraying of the elms, even as the elm program is only one of the multitudinous spray programs” (109). Many species of birds have experienced “heavy mortality” (109).
A key assertion in Carson’s argument is that while the effects of chemical spraying programs are dangerous in themselves, it is their overall ineffectiveness that makes them even more harmful. For example, despite the widespread treatments applied for Dutch elm disease, most populations of American elms still experienced high rates of mortality. Carson demands that people begin looking at who “has the right to decide […] that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight” (127).
Chapters 7-8 Analysis
Carson begins developing more fully her assertion that the interconnectedness of living things makes widespread chemical spraying far more dangerous than is claimed by the companies and governments choosing to use these insecticides and pesticides. Further, since widespread spraying is usually ineffective in controlling unwanted species, the harm caused by this method is compounded. The decision to use these chemicals, Carson argues, is often made by some “authoritarian temporarily entrusted with power” (127). The rush to control some unwanted pest, like the Japanese beetle or the cause of Dutch elm disease, leads officials and scientists to make rushed decisions that ripple outwards to impact all forms of life, including humans. It is impossible, Carson asserts, to only chemically affect one organism in an ecosystem. As bird populations in the United States decline rapidly, it is imperative that humans begin examining these harmful decisions prior to wiping out more of the animals that we share the planet with.
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