Critical Review
Ecocriticism
Story
Line: A Different Point of View
Ian
Marshall’s text, Story Line: Exploring the Literature of the Appalachian Trail
is unique in that it applies a subjective approach to the literature that it
explores. In the preface, Marshall
gives a history of the inception of the Appalachian Trail and how he plans to
study the literature of the trail. In
terms of subjectivity, he plans to travel to the areas of the Appalachian Trail
in which the literature is set. The
technique is akin to one an anthropologist would use. In comparing the depictions of nature in literature with what he
sees, Marshall hopes to chart the history of nature in the literature of
America. Of the Appalachian Trail,
Marshall says, “It is sacred ground whose stories tell something of where we
came from and how we came to be who and what we are” (9).
Marshall
begins his quest at the southern end of the trail in Georgia. His reference to sacred ground is readily
apparent in the Cherokee myths of the region.
In this section, Marshall compares the Christian version of the Fall
with that of the Cherokee. The
Christian version of the Fall separates humans from nature and there is no
sense of need to reconnect. “The
Cherokee version of the Fall stresses the need to recognize our separation from
the natural world and to try to repair it.
Fear of the wild does not preclude respect” (23). The American obsession with lawns, which
keep nature out, is an example of the difference in how the two cultures view
nature. One is moved by the argument
that humans are a part of nature and do not have dominion over it.
This
idea of dominion over nature is seen in the second chapter of the text. Marshall discusses William Bartram’s Travels. Bartram has been hired to catalog the
different species of plants in this region of the colonies. This effort to catalog allows for a system
of hierarchy, which ranks humans, animals, and plants in order of presupposed
importance. In Cherokee myth, it is
believed that all things in nature have spiritual powers. This is seen in the Cherokee use of plants
for medicinal purposes. Each plant has
a spiritual power and it is up to people to discover this power. Mainstream America views nature in terms of
hierarchies and systems. The social
ecologist Murray Bookchin urges “us to reconsider the nature of nature in order
to it and ourselves” (45). Bookchin
believes that nature is an ecocommunity. “The ant is as necessary to the health
of a particular ecosystem as the lion” (45).
Nature is based on interdependence more than hierarchy.
A
connection to nature can be seen in the section titled “Mary Noailles Murfree:
Ecofeminist of the Great Smoky Mountains.”
In her novel, Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains, Murfree shows
the determination of the settlers of the area to conquer the land. “’They an’ thar sons rooted up the
wilderness’” (57). However, the heroine
in her novel has a special connection with the land. Murfree uses nature to describe how the heroine feels. “She sees the majesty of the mountains and
believes. Or Knows” (59). The heroine and Murfree through her see
something sacred in the land. In
Murfree’s work, place is as important as plot.
Her sense of connection to the land makes her one of the first
ecofeminists.
In
the section on Southern Highlanders, the sense of connection to the land is
obvious. Marshall reviews the writings
of Horace Kephart, a nature writer of the late 19th
century. The main work Marshall reviews is titled Man’s Game. The perspective is of
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the individual against nature. Kephart was living in Dayton, Ohio when he
had a sudden urge to return to the Appalachian Mountains. As Marshall states, Kephart was “trying to
find the nearest blank space. He said
he was looking for ‘a Back of Beyond,
‘terra incognita.’ He found it in the
Smokies” (72-73). Kephart is one of the
forces behind the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kephart sees nature as a realm where he can
achieve individual freedom. In the
vein of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, Kephart believes that nature is to be
overcome. The people of the Southern
Highlands come respect Kephart, although they never fully accept him into their
community. He admires their freedom and
independence. As the coal industry and railroads move into the Smokies, Kephart
laments the loss of a way of life.
“Freedom and independence seem incompatible with civilization and difficult
to accommodate within a community” (87).
One wishes that Marshall would explore this idea more thoroughly.
Marshall
does examine the individual pursuit of meaning and connection in nature in the
section “Pilgrim at Tinker Cliffs.”
Having visited Tinker Creek and hiked this section of the Appalachian
Trail, this reader found the descriptions by Marshall and Dillard most
interesting. Marshall describes this
section of the trail:
I see things—a
muddy pool of still water with resident bullfrog and hundreds of black
tadpoles, the frothy spittle of praying mantis eggs nestled at the juncture of
leaf and stem on some knee-high weeds, the rump of a deer blending in with
forest duff, trailside fire pinks and mountain laurel abloom, ladybugs that are
golden. (89-90)
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This is Macafee’s Knob, the cliffs,
and Tinker Creek.
The previous
passage demonstrates why Annie Dillard uses a passive approach to connect with
nature. Dillard brings quantum
mechanics into the discussion of nature.
“There’s motion and there’s position, journey and home, pursuit and
patient waiting, and you can’t know or do or have one without losing the other”
(94). She is discussing the difference
between active (hiking) and passive (sitting) in the search for connection with
nature. We seek moments. As Dillard says, “All we can do is seek
out—or wait for—the next one. So our
pilgrimages are never done” (100). The
beauty and the connection with nature are there. As Marshall states, “Beauty is
real. I would never deny it; the appalling
thing is that I forget it” (101).
Perhaps, this is part of the problem with the Euro-American view of
nature.
The Euro-American
view of nature is explored in “From Imperialism to Nationalism: The Knights of
the Golden Horseshoe Cross the Blue Ridge.”
In the early 1700’s, Alexander Spotswood, the colonial governor of
Virginia, led an exploration party over the Blue Ridge. The party knowledge the beauty of the
mountains amid alcohol and revelry.
However, the purpose of the expedition was to claim land for the British
Empire.
They name a mountain after King George and one in honor of Spotswood. William Caruthers writes a fictionalized account of the expedition in which manifest destiny replaces imperialism. Imperialism and manifest destiny are social constructs. Nature is the other, the victim.
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This brings the
reader to “Confluences.” The section
discusses the use of nature
as metaphor in the formation of
social constructs. The hiker is at the
place on the Appalachian Trail where the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers
meet. The place is Harper’s Ferry. Marshall, using the history of the rivers as
metaphors for North and South, gives the reader an account of the Civil
War. Appropriately, he begins with John
Brown and Harper’s Ferry. Just as the
North won the war, the Potomac flowing from the North defeats the Shenandoah
and carries her waters to the sea.
“Whether we regard nature as the source of universal law, or of useful
analogy, or of language itself, it is by nature that we know the world. Drawing
analogies from nature shows that we are not that far removed from it. Marshall point is well taken.
The
next section discusses whether nature is real or a social construct. Sitting on the trail, Marshall says he can
see nature. In literature, Marshall
states, “The historical moment is also relevant to the picture—or creation—of
nature” (140). As Marshall notes,
environmentalists disagree. “When we
perceive nature (as opposed to pave it and build on it), we don’t construct it,
we don’t make it” (144). Marshall
believes that nature is both perceived and real.
To
reconcile the opposing sides Marshall says we should search for common
ground. He makes his case in a
discussion of law of gravity. Newton
says masses are attracted to each other.
“According to a native American, it could be caused by ‘Mother Earth
call[ing] out to kindred spirits in other bodies’” (145). Each is a culturally and socially define construct
to explain gravity. True objectivity
requires that one realize their own position and the biases therein. A view of nature that is inclusive, not
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exclusive, is necessary for a true
understanding of nature.
Marshall
trip along the Appalachian Trail is insightful. Through the literature explored on the hike, one sees how
attitudes and views are change in regard to our relationship with nature. The reader gains a new perspective on nature
through the trail and associated literature.
It would be useful to anyone interested in ecocriticism, nature, or
life. Marshall has created a helpful
guide to literature and its connection to nature.
Marshall, Ian. Story Line: Exploring the Literature of
the Appalachian Trail.
Charolottesville:
UP of Virginia, 1998.