THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE
William Butler Yeats in the poem “THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE” observes the peaceful collaboration and living of nature; nature has different components that co-exist with each other if uninterrupted. He portrays how different element of nature work for the benefit of each other.
They have overflowing peace and live for the good of the other. Nature has its own way of providing a life to the other however, when man exploits nature he does so with a selfish mind, he want to use the elements of nature for his own benefit without considering the dangers caused to the same environment exploited.
Human attitude towards environmental damage is that the environment exists for human benefit; environment should be exploited for the good of man and at no any one point should exploiting the environment be seen to be destructive.
Man from the poem is considered to be taking advantage of existence of nature for his own benefit; he is seen to be ignorant of any benefit that he can bring to nature but his interests are on how he is going to benefit.
The Fish
Elizabeth Bishop in the poem “The Fish” portrays the picture and the emotional attachment that a fisherman gets after catching a fish. She portrays how cruel human beings are when destroying nature in the efforts of satisfying their need.
The environment is portrayed as a source of live hood; the poem brings out three beneficiaries in the exercise, the fisherman, the boat owner and the final consumer. Little was done by either party to restore the environment. The beauty of nature and environment is brought about by the description given for the aquatic life caught.
The poem portrays people to have a “don’t care” attitude to the dangers they do on the environment. It shows how selfish human beings are however; it recognizes the need to exploit the environment for food and live hood.
Energy Boom in West Threatens Indian Artifacts
According to KIRK JOHNSON, article in New York Times; “Energy Boom in West Threatens Indian Artifacts”, exploitation of energy for various industrial use is threatening archeological and historical facts. According to the article, human being are more interested in satisfying their current economic need but are not concerned on saving preserving the environment.
When they exploit resources for current need, they are seen to be doing this with little regard of future generation. Environmental problems of current generation was brought about by exploitation of resources by past generation and if the modern generation fails to take appropriate measures to conserve the environment then future generations are likely to suffer.
People develop concepts like environmental sustainability and sustainable development but they do not follow them. They have an ignoring attitude to the effects of environmental damage especially for those products that are exhaustible like oil. In exploitation, people are guided by greed and self interests thus are willing to destroy the environment for their own use without any regard of future generations.
Conclusion
All the three articles have a similarity in that they have portrayed people’s negative attitude towards environmental conservation thus encouraging environmental damage. The writers are of the opinion that environmental damage occurs as man exploit natural resources for his benefit. They acknowledge that exploitation is necessary for live-hood but conservation and restoration measures should be taken.