Anisha Mondal, Teaching as PGT English at AGPN Convent and ER School , Purulia. M.A English, Sidho Kanho Birsha University, Purulia; Session: 2019-2021, B.Ed. from Sponsored Teachers’ Training College, Purulia; Session:2021-2023, Email: anishadgp98@gmail.com , Phone and Whatsapp: 8906358668
My paper is based on the theory of ecocriticism or eco feminism which intends to analyse the pain caused by humans on nature and its revolution against mankind through the poem “The Trees” by Adrienne Rich. Unlike other approaches of the theory of literature in this approach we will not only talk about how nature is subdued by humans through their development but how nature is showing its impact. Adrienne Rich in her poems always tried to present a voice to the categories who are subdued. She uses certain subtle motifs throughout her works which are impactful once we see it with insightful eyes. According to the ideas of ecocriticism we know that ecocritics generally consider nature as subdued by humans. Ecocritics believe the world to be anthropocentric and often feel the importance to challenge the ideas with emphasis on environmental activism. There would be proper harmony and sustainability with that of humans with nature.
From the words of Greg Garrard in his work Ecocriticism(2004) he mentioned that “Ecocriticism explores the ways in which we imagine and portray the relationship between humans and the environment in all areas of cultural production.”
Nature has always been portrayed as the marginalized who lacked voices of its own . It teaches us to absorb and adapt. We know about how humans continue to live in this world creating a ruckus with a tag of “Survival for the fittest”. But in the tug of war between nature with its natural resources and the increasing development which is not sustainable, nature is always treated as something which needs not to be bothered about.
In the work “The Cost of Living” by Arundhati Roy, she mentioned that
“Big dams are to a nation’s ‘development’ what nuclear
bombs are to its military arsenal.
They’re both weapons of mass destruction.”
(The Cost of Living)
Through which she tried to bring forward the ideas of how dams and developments like this are environmentally destructive in nature. In the poem “The Trees” by Rich we get the very same ideas of how trees are taken off from their natural habitat and are replaced by concrete jungle.Throughout the poem we can find various metaphors and images where trees are trying to free themselves from the confinement of humans. Initially while reading the poem we felt that the speaker was empathetic with nature as she wanted
the trees to go to their natural habitat as many other species are dependent on them. Rachel Carson in her work Silent Spring(1962) mentioned that
“In nature nothing exists alone.”
(Silent Spring)
Through which she presented the idea of interdependence of all living things with nature and human beings are negatively impacting on nature.
As we proceed with the poem we find that the trees are parts of nature who are freeing themselves from the confinement of humans.
“All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
in the veranda floor.”
(Stanza 2, The Trees, Rich)
The above lines not only talk about nature’s act of liberation and freedom but also symbolizes the rebellion of nature. The nature which was not voiced got back its voice once it was healed and regenerated its courage to move out of human confinements. The struggle of the trees can easily be compared with any marginalised or subdued and therefore disengagements of the trees as that of rebellion against the power.
A contrasting image against the confinement we find in another poem by Leslie Norris, “A Tiger in the Zoo” where a ferocious animal like tiger lost its wrath because it is under the confinements of the human beings. The line states as
“He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.”
(A Tiger in the zoo)
Bringing out the same idea I would like to draw a comparison between the conditions of the tiger in Blake’s poem “The Tyger” which presented a revolutionary idea of nature where nature in its own form is bright and doesn’t fear anybody.
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
(The Tyger)
Another crucial idea of no botheration of the speaker, here, who is the representative of the majority of humans of the society is presented in the poem “The Trees” by Adrienne Rich as well. “I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure
of the forest from the house.”
(The Trees)
Though it seems that it doesn’t matter what happens with the nature around us but as human beings are also an integral part of nature thus there is a guilt consciousness which struck the speaker in the poem “The Trees” where there is a call inside her head making her feel that she might not be feeling the same next day. The poem ends with a rebellion from the trees as they are no longer willing to stay under human control.
Subaltern theory in ecocriticism examines the intersection of environmental issues with the voices and experiences of marginalized or oppressed groups. So, to conclude, we can think the whole poem “The Trees” as a metaphorical poem which is subjecting not only the pain and the consequences of humans colonization on nature but also the horrific condition of all the marginalised of our society who are struck in the vicious cycle of stereotypes from which they want to free themselves radically. Rich through her works tried to use elements from nature to bring out the dark images of human life so that it can create a vivid picture for the readers. She tried to end the poem using the extended metaphors of positivity where the true inhabitants would be recreating their places back through the start of a revolution.
Work cited:
1) Garrard, G. (2004). Ecocriticism. In Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203644843 2) Roy, A. (1999). The cost of living. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA47226157
3) Carson, R. (2017). Silent Spring (1962). In Yale University Press eBooks (pp. 195–204). https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300188479-019
4) Rich, A. (1973). The trees. In Diving into the wreck: Poems 1971-1972 W. W. Norton & Company. 5) Norris, L. (1960). A tiger in the zoo. In Collected poems
6) Blake, W. (1794). The tyger. In Songs of experience.