Module II

Knowledge Is Power
Yuval Noah Harari
Knowledge is Power is an excerpt from Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, first published
in Hebrew in 2011 based on a series of lectures Harari delivered at The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. This chapter discusses the relationship between science and technology. Harari
discusses how all technologies were not developed out of scientific research, sometimes
uneducated craftsmen create new technologies using trial and error methods. Today scientific
research and technological development are mainly in the field of defence and wars are scientific
productions. Harari analyses how scientific weapons played a crucial role in deadly World Wars
“Knowledge is Power” critically evaluates the transformation new technologies and deadly
weapons have made in the world. The author sarcastically reminds that most empires in the past
did not rise out of technological wizardry. Harari makes it clear that science is not just about
offensive weapons, it can be used in defences as well. Nanotechnology can be utilised as a
solution to terrorism. But the author doesn’t feel it wise to develop bionic flies and thought-
reading scanners in defence.
Most people don’t understand modern science because of the mathematical language it
uses. How many of us can understand quantum mechanics, cell biology or
macroeconomics? Presidents and generals do not know nuclear physics, but they know
what nuclear bombs can do. In 1620. Francis Bacon argued that knowledge is power.
The real test of knowledge is utility. A theory that enables us to do new things is
knowledge.
Science has given us many new tools. Some are mental tools which are used to predict
death rates and economic growth. Technological tools are more important. The
connection between science and technology is so strong, that many people hardly
differentiate between them. Prior to 1500, science and technology were separate fields.
When Bacon connected the two, it was a novel idea. As time passed, this relationship
got closer and then they were tied together in the 19th century. Even in 1800, the rulers
who wanted a powerful army or business men who wanted successful businesses
would not finance research in physics, biology or economics. Rulers financed
educational institutions to spread traditional knowledge to maintain the existing order.
Here and there, new technologies were developed by uneducated craftsmen through
the trial and error method.
Modern States ask their scientists to provide solutions in almost every area, from
energy to health to waste disposal. Today there is military-industrial-scientific complex
because today’s wars are scientific productions. The world’s military forces initiate, fund
and steer a large part of humanity’s scientific research and technological development.
When World War One was becoming interminable, both sides asked the scientists to
break the deadlock. The scientists then provided combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks,
submarines, better machine guns, rifles and bombs. In WW II science played a greater
role. Americans developed the atomic bomb. Japan had vowed to fight to death. But two
atom bombs made Japan surrender.
Science gives not only offensive weapons but also defensive ones.. The Americans
believe that the solution to terrorism is technological rather than political. If they fund
nanotechnology research adequately, the USA can send bionic spy flies to all the
centres of the terrorists – Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can develop
FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports
and they will recognise angry and hateful thoughts in people’s brains. Will it be good to
develop bionic flies and thought reading scanners? Not necessarily. But the US is giving
money to brain laboratories to work on these ideas.
This obsession with military technology is a recent phenomenon. Most empires did not
rise because of technological wizardry. The best example is the Roman Army. It did not
have sophisticated weapons What it had was organization, discipline and huge
manpower resources, Rome defeated Carthage, Macedonia and Seleucid Empire.
China invented gunpowder. It was by accident, not by research. The Chinese used it for
firecrackers. Even though they had gunpowder, they were defeated by the Mongols.
Only in the 15th century, 600 years after the invention of gunpowder, did cannons
become a decisive factor in Afro-Asian battlefields. It took so long to be used in the
battlefields because no kings, scholars and merchants thought that new military
technology could save them or make them rich.
Napoleon who defeated the European powers at Austerlitz did not have any new
weapons. He had no interest in them, although the scientists and inventors persuaded
him to fund the development of flying machines, submarines and rockets. Science,
industry and military technology intertwined only with the coming of the capitalist system
and the Industrial Revolution. Once this relationship was established, it quickly
transformed the world.
Short Answer Questions
1. Why do most people have a hard time digesting modern science?
Most people have a hard time digesting modern science because of the mathematical language it
uses. Many of us cannot understand quantum mechanics, cell biology or macroeconomics.
2. What does Francis Bacon mean by “knowledge is power”?
By saying “Knowledge is Power” Francis bacon means that the test of knowledge is not whether
it is true, but whether it empowers us. The real test is utility.
3. What are the new tools offered by Science over centuries?
The new tools offered by Science over centuries are mental as well as technological. The mental
tools are used to predict death rates and economic growth. Technological tools are more
important as they are used in agriculture, industry and warfare.
4. What is the confusion between science and technology among People?
The confusion between science and technology among people is that the connection between
science and technology is so strong that many people hardly differentiate between them. Prior to
1500, Science and technology were separate fields.
5. Why do rulers finance educational Institutions?
Rulers finance educational Institutions because they want to spread traditional knowledge to
maintain the existing order.
6. What are the new wonder-weapons invented during the First World war?
The new wonder-weapons invented during the First World War are combat aircraft,
poison gas, tanks, submarines, better machine guns, rifles and bombs.
7. “German soldiers and civilians thought not all was lost during the Second World War.”
Give one reason.
Germany kept fighting on even though the British, American and Soviet armies were
closing in. But the German soldiers and civilians thought not all was lost because they
believed that German scientists were about to make a difference with the so-called
miracle weapons such as the V-2 rocket and the jet-powered aircraft.
8. How can nanotechnology find a solution to terrorism?
Nanotechnology can find a solution to terrorism by sending bionic spy flies to all the
centres of the terrorists – Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can develop
FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports
and they will recognise angry and hateful thoughts in people’s brains.
9. What is the surprisingly recent phenomenon about science and technology?
The surprisingly recent phenomenon about science and technology is the obsession with military
technology – from tanks to atom bombs to spy flies.
10. How was gunpowder invented?
Gunpowder was invented in China accidently by Daoist alchemists searching for the elixir of
life.
Answer the following questions in a paragraph.
1. What is the relationship between science and technology?
Science is the study of the natural world by scientific method ie collecting data through a
systematic process. Technology is where we apply science to create tools and devices that can
solve problems and perform different tasks. Technology is literally the application of science. So,
it is really impossible to separate the two. Science and technology are highly interdependent on
each other but they are distinct. Science has given us many new tools. Two of them are mental
and technological. Mental tools are used to predict things like death rates and economic growth.
Technological tools are more important. The connection between science and technology is so
strong, that many people hardly differentiate between them.
2. Comment on the role played by science in World War two.
Science played a major role in World War II. One can easily say that the War came to an end
because of Science. Different governments recruited and funded scientists from educational
institutions, research laboratories and a number of industries to help with the war effort. The
focus was on weapons, devices, and medicine that could be immediately used in the field by their
troops and allies, America had developed the atom bomb during the WW II. The Allied Forces,
led by America, were winning on many fronts, but the Japanese had vowed to fight until death.
The Americans knew that the Japanese would not surrender. So the Americans dropped two
atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two major towns in Japan. The devastation caused by
the bombs made Japan surrender, bringing the WW II to an end.
3. How can science be used in defence?
Science is useful not only during wars but also in defence. If you have a strong defence, nobody
will dare to attack you. No country in the world would dare to attack the USA. It is because of
their strong defence capabilities, and these defence capabilities are given by science. The
Americans believe that the solution to terrorism is technological rather than political. If they fund
nanotechnology research adequately, the USA can send bionic spy flies to all the centres of the
terrorists – Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can develop FMRI (Functional magnetic
resonance imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports and they will recognise angry and
hateful thoughts in people’s brains. Whether it is good to develop bionic spy flies and thought
reading scanners is a debatable question. However, the US is giving money to brain laboratories
to work on these ideas.

4. Why did President Truman decide to use the new bomb?

President Truman decided to use the new bomb because the Japanese had vowed to fight until
death. The Second World War began in 1939 and the war went on and on. It was in April 1945
that Harry S. Truman became the President of America. The War was going on 6 years with no
end in sight. By 1945, the American led Allied Forces were winning in different fronts and the
Germans had already surrendered. Americans knew that the Japanese would not surrender
because they had vowed to fight until death.
5. Discuss the invention of gunpowder and its subsequent use.
It was China that invented gunpowder. The invention was by mere accident and not because of
any scientific research. Gunpowder was invented by Daoist alchemists who were searching for
an elixir of life that would make man immortal. One would have thought that the invention by
the Daoist alchemists would be used to make China the master of the world. But for centuries the
Chinese used it only for making firecrackers. Even though they had gunpowder they were
defeated by the Mongols. Only in the 15th century, 600 years after the invention of gunpowder,
did cannons become a decisive factor in Afro-Asian battlefields. It took so long to be used in the
battlefields because no kings, scholars and merchants thought that new military technology could
save them or make them rich.
6. “Science is not just about offensive weapons”. Comment.
It is quite right to say that science is not just about offensive weapons. Science does give us
different kinds of defensive weapons like combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks, submarines, better
machine guns, rifles and devastating bombs. But science is also highly useful in times of peace.
The Americans believe that the solution to terrorism is through science and technology rather
than politics. If the Americans fund nanotechnology research adequately, they can send bionic
spy flies to all the centres of the terrorists – Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can
develop FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports and
they will recognise angry and hateful thoughts in people’s brains. The US is now giving money
to brain laboratories to work on these ideas,
7. How did ancient rulers fight and win wars?
The ancient rulers did not win wars by using sophisticated weapons supplied by science and
technology. They did not give much thought to technological improvement. The Arabs did not
defeat Sassanid Empire by using superior bows and arrows. The Seljuks had no technological
advantage over the Byzantines. The Mongols did not conquer China because they had some
sophisticated new weapons. The fact is that all the defeated nations had superior military and
civilian technology than the winning nations. The Roman army is a good example to show that in
the past it was not technology that won wars. Rome had no technological edge over Carthage,
Macedonia or the Seleucid Empire. The advantages of the Roman army were organisation,
discipline and huge manpower reserves. The Napoleonic military machine that crushed the
armies of the European powers at Austerlitz in 1805 was armed with almost the same weaponry
that the army of Louis XVI had used.

Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

1. Comment on the difference in the use of technology by ancient and modem rulers.
Ancient and modern rulers used technology in different ways. The ancient rulers did not give
much thought to technological improvement especially during warfare. The Arabs did not defeat
Sassanid Empire by using superior bows and arrows. The Seljuks had no technological
advantage over the Byzantines. The Mongols did not conquer China because they had some
sophisticated new weapons. The fact is that all the defeated nations had superior military and
civilian technology than the winning nations. The Roman army is a good example to show that in
the past it was not technology that won wars. Rome had no technological edge over Carthage,
Macedonia or the Seleucid Empire. The advantages of the Roman army were organisation,
discipline and huge manpower reserves. The Napoleonic military machine that crushed the
armies of the European powers at Austerlitz in 1805 was armed with almost the same weaponry
that the army of Louis XVI had used.
But things were different with the modern rulers. In the first and second World Wars, technology
was extensively used. When World War One was becoming interminable, both sides asked the
scientists to break the deadlock. The scientists then provided combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks,
submarines, better machine guns, rifles and bombs. The people with the better weapons won In
the Second World War, Germany kept fighting on even though the British, American and Soviet
armies were closing in. But the German soldiers and civilians thought not all was lost because
they believed that German scientists were about to make a difference with the so-called miracle
weapons such as the V-2 rocket and the jet-powered aircraft. But in the end they had to
surrender. But the Japanese had vowed to fight until death.
The Second World War had begun in 1939 and the war had been going on and on for 6 years.
When Harry S. Truman became the President of America, he decided to use atomic bombs
against the Japanese. Americans decided to drop the latest bombs on some Japanese to tell them
that the entire Japan would be wiped out if they refused to stop the War. They dropped two atom
bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two major towns in Japan. The devastation caused by the
bombs made Japan realise that they could not to continue with the fight and they surrendered,
bringing WW II to an end. Now Nanotechnolgy is being used by the Americans to find a lasting
solution to the threat of terrorism.
2. Critically examine the chapter ‘Knowledge is Power’ by Yuval Noah Harari.
In the Chapter “Knowledge is Power”, Yual Noah Harari very convincingly tells us how
knowledge becomes power especially in the modern warfare. In 1620, it was Francis Bacon who
argued that ‘knowledge is power. The real test of knowledge is utility. A theory that enables us
to do new things is knowledge.
Science has given us many new tools. Some are mental tools which are used to predict death
rates and economic growth. Technological tools are more important. The connection between
science and technology is so strong, that many people hardly differentiate between them. Prior to
1500, science and technology were separate fields. When Bacon connected the two, it was a
novel idea. As time passed, this relationship got closer and then they were tied together in the
19” century.
Even in 1800, the rulers who wanted a powerful army or business men who wanted successful
businesses would not finance research in physics, biology or economics. Rulers financed
educational institutions to spread traditional knowledge to maintain the existing order. Here and
there, new technologies were developed by uneducated craftsmen through the trial and error
method. Modern States ask their scientists to provide solutions in almost every area, from energy
to health to waste disposal. Today there is military-industrial-scientific complex because today’s
wars are scientific productions. The world’s military forces initiate, fund and steer a large part of
humanity’s scientific research and technological development.
When World War One was becoming interminable, both sides asked the scientists to break the
deadlock. The scientists then provided combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks, submarines, better
machine guns, rifles and bombs. In WW II science played a greater role. Americans developed
the atomic bombs. Japan had vowed to fight to death. But it was the two atom bombs that were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that made Japan surrender.
Science gives not only offensive weapons but also defensive ones. The Americans believe that
the solution to terrorism is technological rather than political. If they fund nanotechnology
research adequately, the USA can send bionic spy flies to all the centres of the terrorists
Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can develop FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance
imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports and they will recognise angry and hateful thoughts
in people’s brains. We are not sure if it will be good to develop bionic spy flies and thought
reading scanners. But the US is giving money to brain laboratories to work on them.

3. Trace the history of the development of military weapons.

Development of military weapons is comparatively a new phenomenon. Even Napoleon did not
do anything to develop military weapon. But he was able to defeat the European powers at
Austerlitz in 1805 with almost the same weaponry that the army of Louis XVI had used.
China invented gunpowder. It was by accident, not by research. The Chinese used it for
firecrackers. Even though they had gunpowder, they were defeated by the Mongols. Only in the
15th century, 600 years after the invention of gunpowder, did cannons become a decisive factor
in Afro-Asian battlefields. It took so long to be used in the battlefields because no kings, scholars
and merchants thought that new military technology could save them or make them rich.
The 1st World War gave a boost to the development of military weapons. When World War One
was becoming interminable, both sides asked their scientists to break the deadlock. The scientists
then provided combat aircraft, poison gas, tanks, submarines, better machine guns, rifles and
bombs.
In WW II military weapons, science played a decisive role. Americans developed the atomic
bombs. Japan had vowed to fight to death. But it was the two atom bombs that were dropped in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki that made Japan surrender, bringing WW Il to an end.
Science gives not only offensive weapons but also defensive ones. The Americans believe that
the solution to terrorism is technological rather than political. If they fund nanotechnology
research adequately, the USA can send bionic spy flies to all the centres of the terrorists –
Afghanistan, Yemen and North Africa. They can develop FMRI (Functional magnetic resonance
imaging) scanners to be placed at the airports and they will recognise angry and hateful thoughts
in people’s brains. We are not sure if it will be good to develop bionic spy flies and thought
reading scanners. But the US is giving money to brain laboratories to work on them.

A White Heron
 By Sarah Orne Jewett
Summary: PART I
One June evening, a little girl named Sylvia is driving her cow, Mistress Moolly, home through
the woodlands of the Maine countryside. Although Mistress Moolly is mischievous and slow,
she is Sylvia’s beloved companion. The woods are growing dark, but Sylvia and the cow know
the path by heart. The opening scene of the story immediately establishes Sylvia’s peaceful,
simple enjoyment of her natural environment. In the absence of human relationships, she finds
valuable friendship in an animal.
Mrs. Tilley, Sylvia’s grandmother, expects Sylvia to be late bringing the cow home because she
knows how mischievous Mistress Moolly is and how much Sylvia loves wandering outdoors.
Mrs. Tilley recalls how coming to the country “was a good change for a little maid who tried to
grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town.” Sylvia feels “as if she never had been
alive at all before she came to live at the farm,” and she often remembers “with wistful
compassion” her neighbor in town’s single “wretched geranium. In the country, a child can grow
through exploring nature, while the town leaves children feeling crowded and stifled. This
criticism of life in towns comes at a time period when more and more people where moving to
cities due to rapid industrialization. Notably, even when she lives in the town, Sylvia finds
connection to nature through her compassion for her neighbour’s flower. This suggests that
Sylvia’s love of nature was always there, waiting to be fulfilled.
When Mrs. Tilley first brought Sylvia to live on the farm, she remarked at how her
granddaughter was “afraid of folks,” although she would not run into very many people out in
the country. When she first saw the farm, Sylvia whispered about its beauty, saying that she did
not ever want to return to town. Sylvia’s fear of other people suggests that industrialization and
life in town erodes the trust and community found in country life. Immediately upon arrival in
the country, Sylvia senses the beauty of the countryside and renounces her old life.
As Sylvia continues to drive Mistress Moolly home, she imagines the birds are saying goodnight
and she herself feels sleepy. She feels as if she is a part of the shadows and rustling leaves of the
woods. She wonders if the town is the same as when she left, and her memory of a town bully
makes her begin to hurry in order to escape the woodland shadows. Sylvia feels a sense of
belonging in the woods, as if she too is a part of nature, which is clearest in her reaction to the
birds (she feels as though they are saying goodnight, and she becomes tired in response). This
section also shows her innocence and skittishness, as the thought of a bully back in town makes
her hurry, even though she is out in the country.
At this moment, Sylvia is frightened by the sound of a boy’s whistle and she abandons Mistress
Moolly in order to hide in the bushes, but the stranger has seen her. He asks her how far away the
road is and she meekly tells him it’s far away. A human disrupts Sylvia’s enjoyment of nature
just as human interference disrupts nature on a larger scale through industrialization. The
stranger’s lack of knowledge of the area establishes him as an outsider in the country.
As she resumes driving Mistress Moolly home, Sylvia tries not to look at the stranger, who
carries a gun. He walks with her, explaining that he had been hunting for birds and got lost and
that she shouldn’t be afraid. He asks what her name is and if she thinks he can stay the night at
her house. Sylvia tries to carry on as she normally would in her countryside existence, but human
interference (in the form the hunter) persists. The hunter begins to display his friendly and
charming nature.
Sylvia is even more worried, believing Mrs. Tilley will be mad at her for happening upon the
hunter. Mrs. Tilley, however, is waiting in the doorway when they all arrive, and she playfully
scolds the cow. Sylvia believes that her grandmother does not “comprehend the gravity of the
situation. She must be mistaking the stranger for one of the farmer-lads of the region. Mrs.
Tilley’s warm welcome for a stranger shows the hospitality of the countryfolk of New England.
Jewett writes in the literary style of realism, which celebrates cultures of different American
regions, especially as those rural cultures were disappearing due to industrialization.
Additionally, Sylvia implies that the stranger wouldn’t be scary if he were a local farmer-lad, but
since he’s an outsider (presumably from town), he is a threat, which underscores the dangers of
town.
The hunter repeats his predicament and asks if he may stay the night. Mrs. Tilley says that
although her simple farmstead may not offer as much as those a mile or so out on the main road,
the hunter is welcome to whatever they have. While he initially expects the “dreary squalor” of
“primitive housekeeping,” he is surprised at the cleanliness and comfort of their home. The
hunter’s materialism causes him to unfairly judge the farmstead because it lacks the material
comforts he would expect in town. Yet he is proven wrong, as Mrs. Tilley keeps a clean and
comfortable home, showing that country homes are perfectly suitable.
The hunter enjoys Mrs. Tilley’s “quaint talk” and he notices Sylvia listening with enthusiasm.
After dinner, the three of them sit down in the doorway to watch the moon rise, and Mrs. Tilley
says that four of her children have died. Sylvia’s mother and her son, Dan, are the only children
she has left. Dan travelled out West to California and they lost touch—he might be dead for all
Mrs. Tilley knows. He used to hunt, too, and he brought many partridges and squirrels home for
his mother to eat. He has always been “a great wand’rer” and Mrs. Tilley does not blame him for
leaving and not keeping in touch, because she herself would have explored the world if she
could. Dan represents a way of interacting with nature without exploiting it: he explores nature
and only kills the animals he needs to feed his family. The fondness with which Mrs. Tilley
speaks of Dan’s relationship to nature shows the value of this way of interacting with nature.
Dan’s views of nature will be held in contrast to the hunter’s mission to kill and stuff a heron,
which is revealed later in the story. Yet Dan’s exploration comes with sacrifices, as he has lost
his relationship with his family.
Mrs. Tilley says that Sylvia has the same adventurous spirit as her uncle Dan. Sylvia knows
every inch of the land and the wildlife regards her as one of their own. She feeds the squirrels
and the birds out of her hands, even skipping her own meals so that she has plenty of food to
give to the local jay-birds. Dan tamed crows and used to say that the birds had “reason same as
folks.” Mrs. Tilley draws a link between Dan’s explorative relationship to nature and Sylvia’s
knowledge of her environment. This section establishes the friendship Sylvia feels toward
animals, specifically birds, which will be challenged when the hunter reveals his mission.
The hunter does not notice the note of “family sorrow” in Mrs. Tilley’s conversation because he
is distracted by his excitement over Sylvia’s knowledge of birds. He says that he has been
collecting birds all his life, and Mrs. Tilley assumes that this means that he keeps them in cages,
but he boasts that he has shot and stuffed dozens of birds. Now, he is looking specifically for the
white heron, which he spotted nearby a few days ago. The hunter’s inability to sense Mrs.
Tilley’s sorrow is a first indication that he’s not very empathetic. Furthermore, this passage
reveals that his interactions with nature consist of killing and stuffing birds, thus turning them
into objects that he can possess. This stands in contrast to Dan and Sylvia, who interact with
nature by exploring it rather than destroying it.
Sylvia is preoccupied watching a toad on the footpath, but when the hunter describes the white
heron, she recalls with excitement that she knows the bird and had “once stolen softly near where
it stood in some bright green swamp grass, away over at the other side of the woods.” Beyond
that swamp lies the sea, which Sylvia “wondered and dreamed much about, but never had seen.”
The detailed description of Sylvia’s wonder at the sea characterizes her romantic attitude towards
exploring nature, an attitude that persists throughout the story. Sylvia’s knowledge of the land
and its environment draw her into the hunter’s mission, even though his mission is opposed to
her appreciation of nature.
The hunter wants nothing more than to find the white heron’s nest and he promises that, if Sylvia
helps him find the bird, he will reward her with ten dollars. Sylvia still “watched the toad, not
divining, as she might have done at some calmer time, that the creature wished to get to its hole
under the door-step.” Instead, she thinks fervently of the many “wished-for treasures” that ten
dollars could buy. Whereas Sylvia would have previously empathized with the toad’s plight, she
is distracted by potential material gain. This shows how a desire for wealth can corrupt one’s
connection to nature, and this corruption shows how easily one can be tempted away from simple
enjoyment.
The next day, the hunter explores the woods and Sylvia tags along. She begins to warm up to
him because she finds him to be friendly and charming and he knows so much about birds. The
only time she is still afraid of him is when he shoots birds. She does not understand “why he
killed the very birds he seemed to like so much.” Sylvia’s connection to the hunter grows
stronger, which shows that she’s able to empathize with both people and animals. The hunter’s
relationship to nature is suspicious, as he ironically shows his appreciation for birds by killing
them.
As the day comes to an end, Sylvia feels the stirring of more mature feelings of love for the
hunter. She follows him with admiration and fascination as they silently track bird calls. She is
“grieved because the longed-for white heron was elusive, but she did not lead the guest, she only
followed.” As evening falls, they drive Mistress Moolly home together and Sylvia marvels at
how, just a day before, she was afraid of the hunter. Despite Sylvia’s former content solitude, she
begins to see the desirability of human relationships. These first feelings of love highlight
Sylvia’s innocence, as she experiences excitement over feelings she does not yet understand. Yet
this first love is unequal, as Sylvia does not lead the hunter even though she knows more about
the countryside.
PART II
A half mile from Sylvia and Mrs. Tilley’s home stands a pine tree that woodchoppers spared
when they cut down the rest of the forest. The forest has since grown back, but this old tree
towers over the land. Sylvia would often look up at this tree, thinking that if she climbed it, she
could see all the way to the ocean. Now she thinks about how if she climbs it, she might locate
the white heron’s nest. Because the pine tree was conserved when all the other trees of the forest
were cut down, Sylvia can use it to gain the knowledge she seeks. Nature, when conserved, can
provide knowledge for generations to come. But once again, where Sylvia once saw wonder in
nature, she now only thinks about accomplishing the goal of finding the heron.
Thinking of this tree, adventure and ambition fill Sylvia’s mind. That night, she cannot sleep, so
she sneaks out alone. She hears birds awakening and chirping as she passes them and feels a
sense of “comfort and companionship.” The narrator remarks, “Alas, if the great wave of human
interest which flooded for the first time this dull little life should sweep away the satisfactions of
an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest!”. The narration of Sylvia’s
journey cautions against allowing “human interest” to disrupt one’s simple enjoyment of nature.
This also suggests resiliency in Sylvia’s connection to nature even with this new “human
interest.” Notably, Sylvia must take this journey alone, without another human interfering.
Sylvia arrives at the pine tree and is filled with bravery and hope as she begins her climb. Her
grip is like that of “bird’s claws” as she climbs “the monstrous ladder reaching up, up, almost to
the sky itself.” She disturbs a bird and a red squirrel from their homes as she goes up. In order to
summon bravery, Sylvia embodies aspects of birds, showing her deep and important connection
to nature. However, her progression up the tree also disturbs her natural environment, which
shows the dual nature of her journey: she is simultaneously connected to nature and intending to
disrupt it by killing the heron.
Sylvia struggles as she climbs up the tree because twigs scratch her like “angry talons” and
sticky pitch makes her hands clumsy. Sparrows and robins begin to twitter as dawn arrives and
Sylvia feels time running out to complete her mission. Nature itself seems to be rejecting Sylvia
here. The description of her difficult climb and her feeling that time is running out amps up the
tension of this scene.
The narrator remarks that the tree must be amazed by Sylvia’s bravery and therefore must steady
its twigs in order to help her. Sylvia is braver than all the other creatures of the forest, so the tree
must be holding still against the winds for her sake. Because Sylvia is alone, she must rely on her
own bravery and her connection to nature in the form of the tree. Solitude is necessary for a child
to develop a spirit of courage and a connection to nature.
Sylvia finally reaches the top of the tree, feeling tired yet triumphant. She sees the sea with the
rising sun “making a golden dazzle over it,” and she notices two hawks flying below her and
imagines that she herself could fly. To the West, the woodlands and farms stretch out for miles
and the narrator remarks, “truly it was a vast and awesome world.” Her experience transforms
her once simple perspective towards nature into one that fully understands the scope of her
world. Her interaction with nature here is transcendent, allowing her to gain new knowledge of
her world. Notably, her aerial perspective allows her to see hawk flight from above rather than
below, which makes her inhabit a bird’s perspective and empathize with them to the extent that
she imagines that she herself can fly, too.
The birds’ songs grow louder as Sylvia observes the sailboats on the sea and the fading colors of
the sunrise on the clouds. But she still searches for the white heron’s nest. She looks to the
marshlands where she saw the bird once before and there it is: a white spot rising up in the sky. It
flies by the pine, revealing its “sweep of wing and outstretched slender neck and crested head.”
Sylvia cannot move a muscle, because the heron perches on a branch close below hers to call to
its mate and plume its “feathers for the new day!”. The awe Sylvia feels at the heron paralyzes
her. She adopts the perspective of the heron, understanding its motives and actions. She
recognizes the heron as an independent being, not just an object for humans to possess. The
white heron symbolizes nature in general, which she must choose whether or not to save after
fully observing and identifying with it.
Sylvia “gives a long sigh a minute late” when some other loud birds come to the tree and “vexed
by their fluttering and lawlessness the solemn heron goes away.” Feeling satisfied, she climbs
down, which is just as difficult as climbing up. She wonders how the hunter will react when she
reveals to him the secret of the white heron’s location. Despite her transcendent experience with
the heron, Sylvia still intends to help the hunter find and kill it. At this moment, the temptations
of monetary reward and human relationships are stronger than the moral need to conserve nature.
Back at home, Mrs. Tilley finds Sylvia’s bed empty and begins calling for her granddaughter.
The hunter wakes and looks forward to another day of searching for the bird, believing that
Sylvia hinted the day before that she might know where the heron lives and that he could
persuade her to reveal her information. This scene elaborates on the differing priorities for the
characters. Mrs. Tilley is concerned for her granddaughter’s safety while the hunter is singularly
focused on obtaining the heron, showing the corrupting influence of greedy ambition.
Sylvia returns home, pale and with her clothes torn and ruined by pine pitch. The hunter and
Mrs. Tilley question her and the moment has finally arrived for her to reveal the location of the
white heron. Sylvia’s physically damaged state reflects her troubled mind, showing the negative
effects of gaining experience. This scene also builds up tension towards Sylvia’s climatic
decision of whether or not to save the heron.
But Sylvia cannot speak, even as a worried Mrs. Tilley scolds her for disappearing and the hunter
tries to persuade Sylvia with charming looks and promises of riches, pointing out that she and
Mrs. Tilley are currently poor and he is “well worth making happy.” Because of his materialism
and his assumptions about the poverty of country folk, the hunter assumes that he can tempt
Sylvia with money, that she too will value monetary wealth over nature.
Sylvia questions why she would give up her first worldly connection for the sake of a bird, but
she remembers the “murmur of the pine’s green branches” and how she and the white heron
watched the sea and the sunrise together. She knows she can’t reveal the white heron’s location
if it means that the hunter will end the heron’s life. The hunter represents all the advantages
society and industrialization can offer, while the heron represents the purity and independence of
nature. Though she is tempted by the hunter, Sylvia must ultimately make the moral choice to
conserve nature.
The hunter leaves disappointed later that day, and for a long time afterwards, Sylvia still thinks
of him on her nighttime walks driving Mistress Moolly home. She feels regret for the love she
lost and the loyalty she betrayed by not telling him the white heron’s location. Since Sylvia loved
both the heron and the hunter, she would feel regret no matter what she chose. Her nighttime
walks, where she once enjoyed her solitude and animal companions, are now haunted by her
past.
After a while, Sylvia’s horror at the hunter shooting birds fades, forgetting how he left “their
songs hushed and their pretty feathers stained and wet with blood.” She questions whether her
companionship with the birds is really worth losing the friendship she could have had with the
hunter. Sylvia’s regret has caused her to misremember parts of her past, thinking of her
experience with the hunter as being more positive than it was. She doubts whether animal
companionship can replace human relationships and the narrative does not fully resolve this
conflict, showing the sacrifices one must make in conserving nature.
The narrator calls on the gifts and wonders of nature to compensate Sylvia for what she has lost,
asking “woodlands and summer-time” to “bring your gifts and graces and tell your secrets to this
lonely country child!”. The ending suggests that nature provides consolation for what one loses
through experience. Though one may feel lonely, one can take comfort in the gifts of nature.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the protagonist of the story and whom does she live with?
The protagonist of the story is Sylvia and she lives with he grandmother Mrs. Tilly.
2. Where does Sylvia stay? Why did she not like to return to her home in the town?
Sylvia stays on the farm. She did not like to return to her home in town because she was too
timid and scared of people in the city
3. Why was the girl suddenly horror-stricken in the woods?
The girl was suddenly horror stricken in the woods because she heard a youth’s whistle close by
and it sounded determined and somewhat aggressive.
4. What help does the stranger ask Sylvia?
The stranger asks Sylvia to allow him to stay in her farm for the night as he had lost his way in
the woods.
5. What did the hunter think of Sylvia’s grandmother’s house when he entered there?
He was surprised to find so clean and comfortable a dwelling in that New England wilderness. It
was like a hermitage. He had thought all the dwellings in the villages are full of dreary squalor as
the villagers allowed even hens to roam about in their dwellings.
6. Why was the stranger surprised when he came to know that Sylvia knows all about birds?
The stranger was surprised when he came to know that Sylvia knows all about birds because he
himself was making a collection of birds. He has been at it ever since he was a boy.
7. What does the stranger do with the birds?
He stuffs and preserves them because he is an ornithologist. He has dozens and dozens of them.
He himself had shot or snared them.
8. Who is an ornithologist?
An ornithologist is a person who scientifically studies about birds
9. What was the offer given by the stranger to anybody who helps him find the white
heron’s nest?
The stranger would give the person who helps him find the white Heron’s nest $10.
10. Why did Sylvia climb the great pine?
Sylvia climbed the great pine to look for the nest of the white heron
11. Why did Sylvia not speak about the nest of white heron to the stranger?
Sylvia did not speak about the nest of the white heron to the stranger because she is more
interested in the bird’s welfare than in the reward she would get. For her the birds are
better friends than their hunters.
12. What did Sylvia do at the end of the story?
She refuses to reveal to the young man where the nest of the white heron is. Being a growing girl
of 9, she had felt some thrill at the attention she got from the young man. But she preferred to
sacrifice her possible friendship with him to saving the white heron.
Answer the following questions in a paragraph.
1. Describe Sylvia’s relationship with the cow.
Sylvia and the cow are like close friends. The cow is named Mistress Moolly. They seem to have
the same kind of liking for being outdoors and to wander enjoying outdoor pleasures, the sights
and sounds of nature. Mistress Moolly often wandered out of her usual pasture into the woods.
Sylvia too liked to wander in the forest looking at the trees, flowers and fruits and listening to the
songs of birds and the twitters of insects and animals. She enjoyed the shoal swimming together
in the brook. She was happy to see the sunset scene. The day when Sylvia met the hunter she had
looked for Mistress Moolly for long and she was tired and impatient. But when finally she sees
Moolly at the swamp-side she laughs. As they walk home. Moolly and Salvia stop at a brook,
where Mistress Moolly drinks Sylvia cools her bare feet in the water and takes in the sights and
sounds of moths, birds, and other creatures surrounding them in the forest. They both are lovers
of nature and there is fine chemist between them as if they are intimate friends.
2. Analyse the character of Sylvia in “A White Heron.”
Sylvia is the protagonist of the story. She is a 9-year-old girl living on a farm near a Maine
woodlands with her grandmother, Mrs Tilley. Before coming to the farm, Sylvia lived in a
crowded city with her mother and many siblings. She was not a courageous girl and she was not
comfortable with the strangers in the city. She loves nature and in the farm she enjoys the
company of trees, animals and birds. She can be excited, scared, or troubled easily Then
suddenly she meets the hunter who wants to stay at her dwelling for a night as he has lost his
way in the woods. She is kind-hearted and she takes him home. He asks her to help him find the
rare white heron so that he can shoot and stuff it. She wants to help him because she begins to
admire him and enjoy his company, some romantic feelings budding in her. Before it is dawn,
she climbs a huge pine tree and locates the heron’s nest When she sees the bird she feels that it is
also a creature that wants to live and enjoy its life like her. She then refuses to reveal to the
hunter where the heron can be found, foregoing the reward of $10 and her possible friendship
with him. She sacrifices her personal gains to protect the white heron.
3. Comment on the significance of the pine tree.
The pine tree signifies the transition or the change taking place in Sylvia, the protagonist of the
story “A White Heron” by Sarah Ome Jewett. The pine tree symbolizes Sylvia’s sexual or
romantic maturation. She is climbing the tree with tingling, eager blood coursing the channels of
her whole frame. When she reaches the top, she stands trembling and tired but wholly
triumphant. Sylvia gives a long sigh and suddenly she sees the world differently, from a great
height. This sexual or romantic maturation pairs with the awakened attraction she feels for the
stranger, the dream of love pulsing in her woman’s heart. Interestingly, when faced with her
romantic maturation, Sylvia rejects this coming of age. She climbs down from the tree and
returns to her childhood innocence. She then refuses to reveal the place where the heron lives to
the young man who fascinated her because she feels she should protect the heron. The pine tree
also symbolises the heights we have to climb in life.
4. How does nature serve as a setting for the story?
“A White Heron” is set in the Maine woods, where Sylvia, the protagonist of the story, lives with
her grandmother on the latter’s farm. Her grandmother is Mrs. Tilly. Sylvia is only 9 years old. It
is a beautiful place to live in because the girl longs for peace and joy in the nature surrounding
her. She enjoys the evenings when the bright sunset still glimmers faintly among the trunks of
the trees. The story starts in the peaceful atmosphere of a summer evening. We see Sylvia
driving home her cow, Mistress Moolly, who is just like her friend. We see Moolly quenching
her thirst in the brook and Sylvia wetting her tired feet in it amidst all the natural sights and
sounds around her. She feels quite secure in nature. She is so familiar there that the animals think
she is one of them. The close association between Sylvia and Nature continues throughout the
story. This can be especially seen when we see Sylvia climbing the pine tree, her climb into
womanhood, and all the associations connected with that. She refuses to divulge the white herons
dwelling place because of her love for nature. To her, birds, insects and animals are better friends
than hunters.
5. Comment on the symbolism in “A White Heron.”
Writers use symbols to incorporate a range of ideas in a single image to heighten the impact on
the readers. As a result of these techniques, short stories have a way of conveying sometimes
very complex thoughts in very simple and understandable terms that appeal to the readers. In the
story “The White Heron,” Sarah Orne Jewett uses symbolism to convey a story of enlightenment
by using many symbols. The trees, birds, animals, the brook and the shoal are symbolic of the
healthy and peaceful atmosphere of the countryside and Nature. The whistle she heard
symbolises Sylvia’s fear of people in general. The hunter who whistled represents the crowded
town which Sylvia had left as a child of eight. The cow is symbolic of freedom, adventure and
material existence. The climbing of the pine tree by Sylvia is symbolic of her growth into
womanhood and the alluring world of romance and love. The white heron symbolizes freedom,
Nature and is enchanting beauty.
6. Discuss the use of language in “A White Heron.”
In “A White Heron”, the author, Sarah Orne Jewett, incorporates figurative language and
imagery in her text to let the reader feel a sense of adventure and wonder. When we read the
story we feel as if we are experiencing the journey and we are travelling with Sylvia Jewett has
used personification very effectively. The cow is Mistress Moolly and she often behaves as an
independent and adventurous lady who loves life outdoors. We see trees speaking and birds and
animals twittering and passing messages. The language is simple, but the speech of the
grandmother Mrs. Tilly is often coloured with dialectical twists. Here is a sentence to show her
dialect: “Last winter she got the jaybirds to bangeing here and I believe, she’d a’ scanted herself
of her own meals to have plenty to throw out among ‘em, if I hadn’t kep’ watch.” This is the
language of he countryside. We see an excellent metaphor in the climb of Sylvia on to the tall
pine tree. It is her climb into womanhood and the love and romance associated with it.
7. What is the theme of the short story “A White Heron”?
In the short story “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett there are many themes. We can see
here good vs. Evil, city vs. Countryside, innocence vs. Temptation, man vs. Nature and killing
vs. Nurturing. Sylvia represents the innocence and the goodness in a person. She had been living
in the city, but she is not happy there. She enjoys her life on the farm in the company of trees,
birds and animals. The good is represented by her whereas the evil is represented by the hunter,
the ornithologist, who kills and stuffs birds. Sylvia represents love and nurturing whereas the
hunter represents murder and destruction. The hunter kills birds by hunting or snaring. He does
that mainly for fun and he calls himself an omithologist. Sylvia overcomes her temptation to
collect the $10 she would get as a reward for disclosing the dwelling place of the white heron.
She teaches us to love nature and not to harm any creatures in it. Just like we have a right to live
and enjoy, they too have a right to live and enjoy as they are also creations of God.
8. Comment on the ambiguous ending of the story.
The story “A White Heron” by Sarah Ome Jewett has an ambiguous ending. The reader is free to
make assumption about the ending. The hunter had promised anyone who helps him to locate the
white heron $10. Sylvia goes to the forest, climbs the tall pine tree and locates the nest of the
heron. But when she returns home she does not reveal the information she has got. She does not
want the heron to be shot by the hunter. Although the writer does not tell us exactly what
prompted her change of mind, we can imagine it was her love of Nature that made her keep
silent about the location of the white heron. Her grandmother scolds her for not being able to
collect the reward of $10. If she did not want to reveal where the heron lived, why should she go
in the early hours of the morning to climb such a tall tree looking for the heron’s nest? She has
certainly some fascination for the hunter. He has tickled her imagination. He too was fond of her.
Will he come back later to see her again? Will she feel sad that she mercilessly crushed her first
crush? The ambiguous ending lets the readers go on thinking about the various possibilities.
Answer the following questions in about 300 words.
1. Analyse the ‘regionalism’ or ‘local colour’ in the story.
The short story “A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett has a lot of regionalism and local colour
in it. There is a solid reason for that. In her childhood Sarah Ome Jewett was afflicted with
rheumatoid arthritis. Her father, who was a doctor, sent her on frequent walks in the countryside
and through them she developed a love for Nature. She felt that nature was alive and one could
communicate with it. Her stories are filled with trees, birds and other animals that are
personified. She believed that “all matter lives”.
The historical context of Jewett’s writing was the American Civil War that troubled America
from 1861 to 1865. After four years of bloodshed, slavery was abolished and another step
towards social equality was taken. But equality of women was still not there. Jewett’s style of
writing has been often described as regionalism or ‘local colour’ writing. This was actually a
term which implied a lack of depth and value to her writing. However, it is evident from Jewett’s
early writings that she intended her work to be considered in the future as a catalogue of the
individual in society, and the uniqueness of the social, cultural and natural environment which
she saw before her.
If her work is identified as regionalism, Jewett becomes elevated to the realm of other great
writers like Kate Chopin, William Faulkner, Mark Twain, Harper Lee, and John Steinbeck, who
also had regionalism in their writing. As a regionalist writer, Jewett belongs to a group of writers
who are interested in the physical features of the landscape, focusing on the relationship between
that region and human consciousness. We can see these things in the bonding of Sylvia with
nature – its trees, birds and animals. We see the farm life in the woods of the Maine coastland.
Sylvia chooses to save the white heron sacrificing $10, the financial reward she could get and
also her crush for the pleasing and handsome hunter, although she is only nine years old. Her
climbing the pine tree to look for the white heron is her growth into womanhood. Even in the
language of Mrs. Trilly, the grandmother of Sylvia we can detect regionalism or the local colour.
2. Discuss “A White Heron” as an Eco critical and ecofeminist short story.
A White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett is a fine example for an eco-critical and eco-feminist
short story. Eco-feminism which developed in the 1970s in the United States refers to an
ecologically centred idea that analyses the dominant male practices and discourses relating to
nature. It is a movement that rejects the patriarchal conventions which justify the oppression of
women by men and also the wanton destruction of the environment. Sarah Ome Jewett’s “A
White Heron” portrays earth as one that provides and sustains life. She also observes women’s
potential to solve the ecological issues by living in communion with nature.
“A White Heron” is set in the Maine woods, where Sylvia, the protagonist of the story, lives with
her grandmother on the latter’s farm. Her grandmother is Mrs. Tilly. Sylvia is only 9 years old. It
is a beautiful place to live in because the girl longs for peace and joy in the nature surrounding
her. She enjoys the evenings when the bright sunset still glimmers faintly among the trunks of
the trees. The story starts in the peaceful atmosphere of a summer evening. We see Sylvia
driving home her cow, Mistress Moolly, who is just like her friend. We see Moolly quenching
her thirst in the brook and Sylvia wetting her tired feet in it amidst all the natural sights and
sounds around her. She feels quite secure in nature. She is so familiar there that the animals think
she is one of them.
One day as she was returning home with her cow, Sylvia meets a hunter. He has lost his way and
he requests Sylvia to give him lodging for the night. She reluctantly agrees. He says he lost his
way as he was pursuing a white heron which was tall with fine feathers and long legs. He
promises to give $10 to anyone who helps him find that heron. On the next day before it is
morning, Sylvia goes to the forest, climbs the tall pine tree and locates the nest of the heron. But
when she returns home she does not reveal the information she has got. She does not want the
heron to be shot by the hunter. Her grandmother scolds her for not being able to collect the
reward of $10.
We know why she did not reveal the dwelling of the white heron. She believed that birds and
animals are better friends than hunters. As a maturing girl, she had some fascination for the
handsome hunter. He had tickled her imagination and some kind of romantic thoughts had
entered her brain for the first time. He too was fond of her. But she refuses to bow before the
male charm asserting her femininity.
The close association between Sylvia and the nature continues throughout the story. This can be
especially seen when we see Sylvia climbing the pine tree, her climb into womanhood, and all
the associations connected with that. She refuses to divulge the white heron’s dwelling place
because of her love for nature. To her, birds are better friends than hunters.

THE FISH
Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) was an American poet, short-story writer and painter. Her father
died when she was less than a year old and her mother was sent to an asylum due to mental
illness. After graduation, Bishop lived in New York and travelled widely. Her poetry is filled
with descriptions of her journeys. She was a prolific writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the
Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950. She was received many Prizes including the Pulitzer
Prize.
Summary
“The Fish” is a first person narrative poem full of vivid imagery and figurative language that first
appeared in the 1946 collection of poetry North & South. The poem written in free verse
describes the speaker’s reaction after catching a venerable, homely and huge fish. The poet
eventually gets fascinated by its primordial strangeness and develops kinship with the fish – a
kinship that leads the speaker to let the fish free. A shift from an anthropocentric world to an
eco-centric world can be seen at the end when the speaker sets the fish free. The poem is famous
for its ecological awareness and celebration of the beauty of nature. An instance of epiphany can
be seen in the poet’s empathy, realisation and identification with the fish. “The Fish” is one of
the best of Bishop’s poems because it contains lines of brilliant observation and keen insight.
Bishop wants us to really zoom in on the moment early in the poem, the poem begins with a
characteristically straightforward start. Right away we know the speaker is fishing and that she
has just caught a giant fish. The setting of the poem is on a body of water in a boat. We also can
make an immediate connection between the title and the first line. This is also our first
introduction to the real physicality of the act of fishing. So the catch is obviously fresh – the fish
is still partly in the water and the hook hasn’t yet been removed from his mouth. Notice that she
writes “my” hook in “his” mouth, creating an interesting relationship between fish and fisher. It’s
not “a” hook in “its” mouth, it’s much more personal than that. Have you ever gone fishing?
Even pretty small fish put up a mean fight. Here the speaker has this tremendous fish that has put
up no fight at all. It’s almost sad on its own there, and certainly noticeable. We get further
illustration that the fish is just hanging there without flapping around or struggling. Bishop gives
the fish human characteristics by referring to him as venerable. “Venerable” means someone
who is very much respected, especially because of wisdom, age, or character, with this the
speaker clearly respects the fish, but she also calls him homely, meaning kind of unattractive. At
this point the speaker has given us a kind of a mixed bag of characterizations and feeling about
the fish: on one hand he’s tremendous and respected, but on the other he’s kind of dead weight.
His skin was peeling and raggedy as old, brown wallpaper, with blotches on it that looked like
faded brown roses. He was all covered in growths and parasites, and strips of seaweed hung off
his body. We’re also finally introduced to the colour of the fish: brown. Bishop is getting into her
poetic, descriptive mode. She creates a simile between the old fish skin and ancient wallpaper.
The different tones of brown, floral design of Roses completes the description with the
patterned wallpaper. These lines are more descriptions of how old the fish is, This fish has got
some serious pattern and texture combos going on. He’s brown, but spotted and barnacles
grown on as when something is down in water for a long time. Which is also indication of his
old age. Rosettes are simply patterns or shapes (sometimes on the skin) that look like roses.
Sea lice, by are marine parasites that feed on fish. Further description of a rough and tough old
fish. The seaweed hanging from the fish really supports the “master of his environment” image,
that is it shows how much the fish is interlinked to its surrounding.

This is probably the first point we realize how dire the situation is for the fish – as the speaker is
holding him out of the water, he’s dying. While he tried to breathe the air, which wasn’t suited for
him, through his sharp, dangerous, bloody gills, So we get a sense that time is important, and
the life of the fish is really in the speaker’s hands. Bishop is creating a little power struggle
between the speaker and the fish. In the previous lines the speaker is clearly in charge of the
situation (and of the fish’s life), but in these lines Bishop notes how the fish’s gills can cut the
speaker in a vicious push and pull.

For the first time, the speaker seems to be looking at the fish and thinking of it as food. The
speaker imagined his innards: his white, feathery flesh; all his different bones; his bright red and
black guts; and his flower-like swim-bladder. The speaker begins to imagine what isn’t
immediately visible. Bishop uses another simile that describes the fish as something perhaps
more beautiful than what it is, fish meat is compared to white feathers. This shows how
carefully the speaker is considering the catch, and probably thinking of the process of preparing
the fish to eat (removing the guts, slicing the meat off the bone…).
Gazing into the fish’s eyes, the speaker saw that they were huge, round, and shallow, and looked
as if they were stuffed with old tinfoil, seen through a thin, scratched-up translucent coating. The
fish’s eyes moved a little, not looking at the speaker, just tilting a bit in the light. The fish’s eyes
might be bigger, but they’re shallow. The fish’s eyes move (he’s still alive), but not to look at the
speaker who is studying him so carefully.
line dangling from these hooks, like old medals of honour, or like a wise old man’s beard. The
fish has five broken-off pieces of fishing line stuck into his lower lip. Bishop brings out the old
soldier image here. This fish has been through a lot. This fish has not only fish-line trailing from
his lower lip, but actual hooks and pieces of fishing equipment grown into his jaw. If the fishing
line is still crimped, maybe the fish had a recent getaway. Bishop’s mention of the “strain and
snap” offers more to the warrior fish image. Speaker compare the fishing lines to medals. While
admiring the fish’s big heavy moody face, the speaker spotted five ancient, imposing fishhooks
firmly embedded in the fish’s blunt lower lip. There were still bits of broken fishing. Wise,
experienced, tough. This speaker really respects the fish. The speaker also recognizes the toll
these battles have taken on the fish.
The speaker just kept staring at this fish until it felt like all the parts of the rusty old boat were
being filled up with a sense of victory, a feeling that spread over everything like the puddle of oil
in the bottom of the boat, until everything the speaker saw seemed to be covered in rainbows.
And then, the speaker released the fish back into the water. The speaker lets the fish go – either
because catching the fish feels like enough, or because the speaker has too much respect for the
fish and counts this encounter as another getaway for the old guy.
Analysis
The speaker of “The Fish” is at first just proud of their “tremendous” catch when they haul an
ancient fish up out of the water. But while looking at that fish more closely and taking in all its
strangeness, the speaker also starts to feel a strange kinship with the animal—a kinship that leads
the speaker to eventually let the fish go. While animals might seem fascinatingly weird and alien,
this poem suggests, it’s also possible for humans to feel deep, boundary-crossing empathy and
respect for them. The poem illustrates how that empathy can be humbling, reminding people
that, even if they might be used to seeing themselves as distinct from animals, they’re really in
the same boat: animals and humans alike take part in all the mess, struggle, and beauty of life.
Displaying this amazing catch, the speaker immediately sees the huge fish they’ve hauled in as
more than a prize. The speaker personifies the fish from the get-go, calling it “him.” And this
“him” has a personality: the speaker notices that it doesn’t fight and that it seems to have lived a
long, full life. While people might be inclined to see animals as plain old trophies (or as dinner!),
the poem suggests, it’s hard not to also appreciate that animals are also alive and aware, living
their lives just as people do.
That sense of empathy only gets stronger as the fascinated speaker examines the fish. The fish
seems utterly alien at first: its skin hangs in rags, it has a “grim, wet, weaponlike” jaw, and it’s
encrusted with barnacles. But even as the speaker looks at all the ways that the fish seems like a
strange sea monster, the speaker relates those peculiar qualities to human things.
The fish’s eyes, for instance, are “far larger” than the speaker’s—but by comparing its eyes to
theirs, the speaker subtly points out that eyes are a feature they share! The fish’s body also makes
the speaker think of “wallpaper” and “tinfoil,” homey, human-made objects. Even the ways in
which the fish is weird feel curiously familiar to this speaker.
In identifying with the fish, the speaker begins to feel a strange respect and empathy for it—a
respect that comes to a climax when the speaker realizes that the fish has five fishing hooks
embedded in its lip. Noticing this, the speaker begins to feel an overwhelming sense of “victory.”
But the victory they feel isn’t their own victory over this fighter of a fish: it’s the fish’s victory,
its survival against all the odds.
When the speaker finally “let[s] the fish go,” they seem to be sharing in that victory, full of
empathy for the being whose life they’ve briefly touched. But they’re also relinquishing their
human dominance, granting the fish real respect as a fellow creature of the world. By seeing this
battered, ragged, grotesque old fish as a beautiful and fascinating equal, the speaker also gains a
flash of “rainbow”-coloured insight into the loveliness of life itself: the speaker is as much a part
of the struggle and beauty of existence as the fish is.
The rainbows at the end of the poem symbolize hope and beauty. Rainbows are an ancient image
of loveliness emerging from difficulty. It’s thus especially significant that the speaker first sees a
rainbow the speaker in the oil-streaked “bilge” at the bottom of the boat. This image of beautiful
iridescence shining on top of an oily mess feels a lot like what the speaker understands through
gazing at the fish: even the strange, ugly, painful difficulties of life can seem gorgeous, when
looked at with careful and non-judgmental attention. Seeing “everything” lit up with “rainbow,
rainbow, rainbow,” the speaker thus seems to see the enduring beauty of life.
Answer the following questions in one or two sentences.
1. How does the speaker hold the fish at the beginning of the poem?
The speaker holds the fish beside the boat, half out of water, with the hook stuck in a corner of
the fish’s mouth.
2. Explain, “He didn’t fight. He hadn’t fought at all.”
The fish did not try to escape or show any resistance. It just hung on the line without any
movement or struggle.
3. What is surprising about the fish?
The fish is battered, venerable and homely. This is quite surprising
4. How are the eyes of the fish different from the eyes of the speaker?
The eyes of the fish were much larger than the speaker’s. They were shallower, and yellowed.
The irises were backed and packed with tarnished tinfoil.
5. Identify the figure of speech used in the phrase “tarnished Tinfoil.”?
Metaphor is the figure of speech used in the phrase “tarnished Tinfoil.”
6. What does “rainbow” symbolise in the poem?
The rainbow is a spectrum of colours. It symbolizes the speaker’s joy in his decision to release
the fish.
7. What does the expression “sun-cracked thwarts” refer to?
Thwarts are parts of an un-decked boat that provide seats for the crew. They also give structural
rigidity for the boat. They are always exposed to the sun and so they are sun cracked with heat
and age.
8. Why did the speaker let the fish go at the end of the poem?
The speaker let the fish go at the end of the poem because she felt some kind of affinity and
kinship with the fish, The fish had struggled to be alive even with five hooks firmly stuck on his
lower lip and string trailing behind the hooks. The speaker too had been struggling and she felt
there is no some connection between them and they are kin.

Answer the following questions in a paragraph.

1. What are the poetic devices used in the poem?
The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop is a fine poem and she has used many poetic devices to make it a
beautiful one. The most obvious of these devices are Personification, Simile, Metaphor,
Alliteration Assonance, Repetition, and Enjambment. The fish is personified and that is why the
poet uses the masculine pronoun ‘he’ for the fish as if the fish is a human being, feeling and
behaving like one. There are many similes like “His brown skin hung in strips like ancient
wallpaper” and “Like medals with ribbons”. There are many metaphors as in “tarnished tinfoil”.
There is alliteration in “big bones” and “wet and weapon-like”. Assonance can be found in
“backed and packed”. Enjambment can be seen in “I caught a tremendous fish and held him
beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth”. Apart from all
these, Elizabeth Bishop has used fine imagery and powerful language in her poem.
2. Comment on the use of domestic images in the poem.
In the poem “The Fish”, Elizabeth Bishop has used very powerful domestic images. We are told
that the fish was tremendous, battered, venerable and homely. Then we are informed that the fish
has brown skin that hangs in strips like ancient wallpaper. All this shows that the fish is old and
it has a lot of wisdom. Then we see the fish has barnacles which look like fine rosettes of lime.
We also see the body of the fish infested with tiny, white sea lice. Undemeath the body of the
fish two or three rags of green weed hung down. The fish had eyes larger than the narrator. But
they were shallower and they were covered with some tarnished tinfoil like substance. We can
see its flesh and bones and entrails as if we are examining one big fish at home. The imagery of
the rainbow is also very domestic as fish is something that is often mentioned in domestic
circles.
3. What is the message of the poem? ?
The poem has a very positive message. The speaker of “The Fish” is at first proud of the
“tremendous” catch. When the speaker examines the old fish he starts to feel a strange kinship
with it. While creatures might seem distant and alien, this poem suggests that it is also possible
for humans to feel deep, empathy and respect for them. The poem illustrates how that empathy
can be humbling. Reminding people that, even if they might be used to seeing themselves as
distinct from animals, they are really very much like them. Just like they struggle to survive we
too struggle to survive. In the efforts for survival the fish was wounded, has grown old and has
escaped many attempts on his life. It carries 5 hooks on its lower jaw like medals. We all carry
“medals”, scars, of our suffering with us. The fish was hooked five times, but he has escaped and
still he wants to live. We too might have failed many times in our lives; yet we continue to live,
ready to face further challenges and failures. The poem is an exhortation to people to love nature
and its creatures.
4. How is the fish described in the poem.
The fish is very old and battered and its body is infested with sea lice, barnacles and algae. It has
five fishing hooks with the lines still partially attached to its lower jaw. It is a tough fish and it
has survived many attempts on its life. The fish didn’t struggle to escape. He hung there like a
weight making some sound. He was battered, venerable and homely. Here and there, his brown
skin hung in strips like dark brown ancient wallpaper. It had shapes like full- blown roses stained
and lost through age. His gills, which were fresh and crisp with blood, were breathing in the
oxygen which was difficult to get. The white flesh of the fish was packed in like feathers. He had
big bones and little bones. His entrails were red black and shiny. He had a pink swim-bladder
like a big peony. His eyes were much larger than the speaker’s. But they were shallower and
yellowed. The irises were backed and packed with some tamished tinfoil like substances which
are old, scratched and oily There were all kinds of signs of the troubles he faced but he was
behaving like an adorable, homely gentleman, showing no fear and no undue haste to escape.
5. Comment on the setting of the poem.
The setting of the poem is a sea as is evident from the barnacles, the sea-lice and seaweed seen
on the body of the fish caught by the speaker. The speaker is in rented boat and he is catching
fish with a hook and line. The boat is very old. From the rusted engine we see drops of oil
leaking onto the bailer, the sun-cracked seats of the boat, the oarlocks and the gunnels. It is
daytime and the sunlight is making rainbows where the oil had spread. The man who is catching
the fish is in a joyful mood as he has hooked a huge fish which he describes as battered,
venerable and homely. Initially he was proud of his catch but then he feels some kind of affinity
with the fish that had been struggling to exist even with five hooks in his mouth and so he
releases it back into the sea.
6. Discuss the change in attitude of the speaker towards the fish.
The speaker caught a big fish and held it beside the boat, half out of water, with the hook stuck in
a corner of its mouth. The fish didn’t fight. It hadn’t fought at all. It hung there like a weight
making some sound. It was battered, venerable and homely. Here and there its brown skin hung
in strips like dark brown ancient wallpaper. It had shapes full-blown roses stained and lost
through age. It was speckled with small shell creatures which were barnacles which looked like
ribbons of lime. He was infested with tiny white sea- lice. Two or three rags of green weed hung
down from him. His gills, which were fresh and crisp with blood, were breathing in the oxygen
which was difficult to get. The speaker soon noticed five hooks sticking to its lower jaw.
Suddenly the speaker began to feel some kind of kinship with the fish. In spite of its injuries and
age, it was trying to live. The speaker too was trying to live in spite of his problems and failures.
He felt sympathy for the fish and he let it go back into the sea.
Answer the following questions in about 300 words.
1. Discuss the theme of the poem “The Fish.”
“The Fish’ by Elizabeth Bishop a poem that may look very simple but it has many themes that
the poet wants to convey to the reader. The main themes in the poem are Nature, Humility.
Struggles for existence, Escapes and Choices. After catching this big, venerable, homely fish it is
the choice of the poet to free it and let it go back into the sea to continue its living. There is a
reason for this change of attitude in the speaker.
The fish didn’t fight to escape. It knew it was defeated and it hung at the end of the line like a
grunting weight. Here and there its brown skin hung in strips like dark brown ancient wallpaper.
It had shapes full-blown roses stained and lost through age. It was speckled with small shell
creatures which were barnacles which looked like ribbons of lime. It was infested with tiny white
sea-lice Two or three rags of green weed hung down from its body. Here we see life in Nature in
its true colour.
The gills of the fish which were fresh and crisp with blood were breathing in the oxygen which
was difficult to get. The speaker soon noticed five hooks sticking to its lower jaw. Here we see
the efforts of the fish to survive. No living creature would want to die without making some
efforts to ward off death. One may fail or win. That is immaterial. But we have to make efforts to
overcome our difficulties and the predicament we ourselves find in.
Then we see the empathy of the speaker at work. He begins to feel some kind of kinship with the
fish hanging on the hook. In spite of its injuries and age, it was trying to live. The speaker too
was trying to live in spite of his problems and failures. He felt sympathy for the fish and gives it
the freedom it needs. He lets the fish go back into the sea to continue with its life. The poem
underscores the fact that man may at times become selfish, jealous and greedy but all these
defects in him are overcome in some special circumstances. The speaker might have caught the
fish with a lot of patience and efforts, spending his valuable time. But then suddenly feelings of
sympathy for the fish become strong in him and he is ready to suffer the loss of the fish. In the
fight between life and death, the fish wins with the help of the goodwill of the speaker.
2. Discuss how “The Fish” illustrates the oppression and cruelty Imposed upon the animal
world by human beings.
The poem “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop powerfully illustrates the oppression and cruelty
imposed upon the animal world by human beings. At the beginning of the poem we see the
speaker hooking a big fish and then holding it beside the boat, keeping the fish half out of water
and half inside the water, with the hook stuck firmly in a corner of its mouth. The fish didn’t
fight to escape. Normally fishes caught by hooks make convulsive movements because of the
pain and because of their efforts to escape. But this fish did not fight at all. It hung there like a
weight making some sound. It was battered, but venerable and homely. Here and there its brown
skin hung in strips like dark brown ancient wallpaper probably because of the actions of the
anglers who had hooked it many times before. It had shapes of full-blown roses stained and lost
through age.
The fish was speckled with small shell creatures which were barnacles which looked like ribbons
of lime. He was infested with tiny white sea-lice. Two or three rags of green weed hung down
from him. His gills, which were fresh and crisp with blood, were breathing in the oxygen which
was difficult to get. The speaker soon noticed five hooks sticking to its lower jaw. It shows the
fish was hooked a number of times. It could never enjoy a peaceful life because of the greedy
eyes of the human beings.
(People catch fish for various uses. Primarily they use fish as food. They also use the oil from
some fish like cod and shark. Many people drink cod liver oil and shark liver oil for their health
and wellbeing. Some fish eggs are very delicious and very expensive. The costliest food in the
world is caviar which is fish eggs. The best caviar is supposed to be “Beluga Caviar” which
comes from the sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. It costs more than Rs. 20 lakhs a kilo!)
Apart from using fish as food, people also keep fish as decorations in their homes. They imprison
very expensive fish varieties in glass containers and keep them in their drawing rooms as a
display of their wealth. All this is cruelty and oppression to the fish. But the sadists do all these
things to derive some questionable pleasure from such vulgar display of wealth and taste.
The fish in the poem has five hooks firmly fixed on its lower jaw. But it is not tired of life. It
wants to live in spite of the torments it undergoes. Finally the speaker is sympathetic and he
releases the fish into the sea to let it live again. In fact we should be ashamed of our cruelty to the
various creatures on this earth.

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW

I LEARNT IN THE FOREST
Vandana Shiva
About the Author
Vandana Shiva (b.1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, eco-feminist and anti-
globalisation author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred
to as “Gandhi of Grain” for her activism associated with the anti- GMO (Genetically Modified
Organisms) movement. She is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum
on Globalization. She plays a big role in the anti-globalisation movement. She is also a member
of the International Organization for a Participatory Society. As an ecologist, Vandana Shiva is a
tireless defender of the environment. She has received many Awards.
Summary
The essay ‘Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest’ was originally published in the
Winter 2012 Issue of Yes! Magazine. The last section of the essay is adapted from “Forest and
Freedom” written by Vandana Shiva and published in the May/June 2011 edition of Resurgence
Magazine. The current essay is taken from the Winter 2013 Issue of The Namta Journal. The
essay traces the ecological journey of Vandana Shiva in fighting against the exploitation and
accumulation of nature. She learned about the value of nature from the uneducated peasant
women of Garhwal Himalaya. A lyrical storyteller, Vandana Shiva begins from the roots of the
Chipko movement in India, under the canopy of the Himalayan forests while listening to the
teachings of the forest. Her evolution of ideas, first based in the history of science and then in the
creation of an Earth University on her own Navdanya’s farm, suggests a mind’s journey to see
nature as live, diverse, and as a source for harmony and self-perfection.
The ecological journey of Vandana Shiva started in the forests the Himalaya. Her father was a
forest conservator. Her mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India. She
then narrates the history of the Chipko movement. It was a non-violent response to the large-
scale deforestation that was taking place in the Himalayan region in the 1970s. She describes that
her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with the Chipko movement
During that period, the local women from the Garhwal Himalaya had come out to shield the
forests by protesting against the ruthless cutting down of trees on a large scale.
Large scale cutting down of trees resulted in landslides and floods, scarcity of water, fodder, and
fuel. Women had become the victims because they were in charge of fulfilling the daily
requirements for cooking, washing, and other household chores. They had to walk long distances
for collecting water and firewood which was a heavy burden.
The women were aware that the forests were the real source of springs and streams, food for
their cattle, and fuel for their stove Therefore, the women decided to hug the trees, and the
loggers would have to kill them before killing the trees.
In 1973 Vandana went to the Himalayas to visit her favourite forests and swim in her favourite
stream to see these spots before leaving for Canada to do her Ph.D. But the forests had gone and
the stream had become a trickle. It was then she decided to become a volunteer for the Chipko
movement. She spent every vacation doing padayatra, documenting the deforestation, the work
of the forest activists, and spreading the message of Chipko.
Next we hear about the action in the Himalayan village of Adwani in 1977. A village woman
named Bachni Devi was the leader there. She fought against her husband who had obtained a
contract to cut trees. When the logging officials arrived at the forest, the women held up lighted
lantems even when it was broad daylight. The logger mocked them saying that they were foolish
women and did not know the value of the forest. He added that the forests produced resin and
timber which would be very profitable. The women sang back in chorus replying that the forests
bore soils, water, and pure air and also sustained the Earth and all that she bears.
Beyond Monocultures: Vandana Shiva learned about biodiversity and living economies based
on it, from the Chipko movement. Biodiversity has many functions. Its destruction is the root
cause of the impoverishment of nature and culture. She used her knowledge to start a farm for
demonstration and training. This led to the establishment of Navdanya Farm. She says that now
they conserve and grow 630 varieties of rice, 150 varieties of wheat, and hundreds of other
species They practise and promote a bio-diversity-intensive form of farming that produces more
food and nutrition per acre. She observes that the conservation of biodiversity is, therefore, the
answer to the food and nutrition crisis in our country. The Navdanya organization helps farmers
make a transition from fossil-fuel and chemical-based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological
systems nourished by the sun and the soil. She says that bio-diversity has been her teacher of
abundance and freedom, of co-operation and mutual giving.
The Rights of Nature on the Global Stage: She says that Ecuador has recognized the ‘Rights of
Nature’ in its Constitution and calls it a significant step. As a follow-up, the United Nations
General Assembly organized a conference on harmony with nature as part of Earth Day
celebrations in April 2011. She makes a reference to the report of the UN Secretary-General
titled ‘Harmony with Nature’, which was issued in combination with the conference. The report
highlighted the importance of reconnecting with nature. Vandana Shiva says that separatism is at
the root of disharmony with nature and violence against nature and people. The author supports
her statement by quoting Cormac Cullinan, a prominent South African environmentalist.
According to him, “apartheid means separateness”. Vandana Shiva says that the whole world
joined the anti-apartheid movement which separated people on the basis of colour. Now there is
an eco-apartheid based on the illusion of separateness of humans from nature.
The Dead Earth Worldview: Vandana Shiva says our belief about the Earth in the pre-
industrial era was that that living beings were an inseparable part of nature. But later man began
to think that the Earth was a dead matter and there was no connection between the Earth and the
other living creatures. She says that it was then the war against the Earth began. She says that
monocultures replaced diversity, raw materials and dead matter replaced vibrant earth. The Earth
came to be termed as Terra Nullius (empty land). But the truth is that the Mother Earth (Terra
Madre) was home thousands of indigenous peoples (people of different races, tribes, ethnicities)
and also tens of thousands of varieties of flora and fauna.
Vandana Shiva says that the images of domination of the Earth by scientific methods were
created by Francis Bacon. Later other leaders of the scientific revolution replaced the idea that
the Earth nurtures life/living beings. They removed a cultural constraint on the exploitation of
nature. Until then, people did not dare to “readily slay a mother, dig into her entrails for gold, or
mutilate her body” as observed by Carolyn Merchant.
It is to be inferred here that once Francis Bacon popularized the idea that the Earth can serve as a
source of raw materials for scientific experiments, many new scientific discoveries and
inventions were made which later led to the mining of iron, gold, copper, wood, and metals from
the earth starting the industrial revolution, modernization, growth of cities, increase in the
number of rich people and urban culture, displacing other cultures.
What Nature teaches: Vandana Shiva tells us what we as humans must do. We are facing many
crises and so we need to move away from the thought of nature as dead matter and move towards
an ecological idea. We need to go to nature herself as nature is the best teacher. Vandana Shiva
presents a model of the Earth University which is located at ‘Navdanya’, a biodiversity farm. She
says that Earth University teaches Earth democracy. The concept of Earth Democracy
symbolizes “freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life”. It also refers to the
freedom and responsibilities of humans as members of the Earth family, to recognize, protect and
respect the rights of all species.
Earth Democracy is a shift from anthropocentrism to eco-centrism. Anthropocentrism is a school
of thought which argues that humans are the central element of the universe. Now we need to
accept that ecosystems are the main elements of the universe and not man. The Earth nurtures
diverse eco-systems. It also means that it is man’s responsibility to preserve these ecosystems.
Since we all depend on the Earth for our survival, Earth democracy gives every human being
right to food and water, to freedom from hunger and thirst.
The poetry of the Forest: The writer highlights the work and how Rabindranath Tagore was an
inspiration to turn to nature and forest in freedom. Tagore started a learning centre in Shanti
Niketan in West Bengal as a forest school which became a university in 1921. In his essay
“Tapovan” he mentions the importance of nature and forest and how forest helps the society. To
Tagore, the forest was a source of knowledge, beauty, joy, art, aesthetics, harmony and
perfection. The conflict between greed and compassion, conquest and cooperation, violence and
harmony continues today. The forest will show us the way beyond this conflict.
Answer the following in one or two sentences.
1. What were the themes of the songs and poems that our mothers composed for us?
The themes of the songs and poems of our mothers were the protection of trees and forests, and
about India’s forest civilizations.
2. What was the real value of forests according to women of Garhwal Himalaya?
According to women of Garhwal Himalaya the forests bear soil, water and pure air. They sustain
the Earth and all she bears.
3. What were the changes that Shiva observed when she revisited her favourite forests and
stream in 1973?
When she revisited her favourite forests and stream in 1973, Vandana Shiva found that the
forests had disappeared and the stream had become a mere trickle.
4. Where did Vandana Shiva learn about ecology?
Vandana Shiva learned about ecology in the forests of the Himalayas. Her father was a forest
conservator and her mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India.
5. What is an eco-apartheid?
Apartheid means separatism. Eco-apartheid is the illusion of separateness of humans from nature
in our minds and lives.
6. What does the Earth University teach us?
The Earth University teaches us Earth democracy. The concept of Earth Democracy symbolizes
freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life. It also refers to the freedom and
responsibilities of humans as members of the Earth family. To recognize, protect and respect the
rights of all species.
7. Name the two most popular courses taught at the Earth University?
Two most popular courses taught at the Earth University are “The A-Z of Organic Farming and
Agro-ecology” and “Gandhi and Globalization”.
8. Where and when did the Navdanya farm start?
The Navdanya Farm started in 1994 in the Doon Valley, located in the lower elevation
Himalayan region of Uttarakhand Province.
9. Why did Tagore start Shantiniketan as a forest school?
Tagore started Shantiniketan as a forest school to take inspiration from nature and to create an
Indian cultural renaissance.
 10. What power, according to Francis Bacon, does science and technology have over nature?
According to Francis Bacon science and technology have the power to conquer and subdue
nature and to shake her to her foundations.
11. What is Earth Democracy?
Earth Democracy is the freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life and the freedom
and responsibility of humans, as members of the earth family, to recognise, protect and respect
the rights of other species.
12. Who are the participants of Earth University?
The participants of Earth University are farmers, school children and people from across the
world.
Answer the following questions in a paragraph.
1. Discuss the childhood experiences of Vandana Shiva that bonded her to nature.
Vandana Shiva’s ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. Her father was a
forest conservator, and her mother became a farmer after fleeing the partition of India. It is from
the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that she leamed most of what she knows about ecology.
The songs and poems her mother composed for the children were about trees, forests, and India’s
forest civilizations. Her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with Chipko,
a nonviolent response to the large- scale deforestation that was taking place in this Himalayan
region. In the 1970s, peasant women from her region in the Garhwal Himalaya had come out in
defence of the forests. Logging had led to landslides and floods, and scarcity of water, fodder,
and fuel. Since women provide these basic needs, the scarcity meant longer walks for collecting
water and firewood, and a heavier burden. So the women decided to protect the trees.
2. What is Chipko movement?
Chipko means to hug, embrace. The Chipko Movement was a contemporary ecology movement,
a nonviolent response to the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in this Himalayan
region. In the 1970s, peasant women from Vandana Shiva’s region in the Garhwal Himalaya had
come out in defence of the forests. Logging had led to landslides and floods, and scarcity of
water, fodder, and fuel. Since women provide these basic needs, the scarcity meant longer walks
for collecting water and firewood, and a heavier burden, Women knew that the real value of
forests was not the timber from a dead tree, but the springs and streams, food for their cattle, and
fuel for their hearth, and they declared that they would hug the trees, and the loggers would have
to kill them before they killed the trees. A folk song of that period said: “These beautiful oaks
and rhododendrons give us cool water. Don’t or These trees. We have to keep them alive.”
3. Write a note on Navdanya movement?
The lessons Vandana Shiva learned about diversity in the Himalayan forests, she has used to
protect the biodiversity on their farms. She started saving seeds from farmers’ fields and the
realized they needed a farm for demonstration and training. Thus she started the Navdanya Farm
in 1994 in the Doon Valley, located in the lower elevation Himalayan region of Uttarakhand
Province. Today the Farm conserves and grows one-hundred thirty varieties of rice, one-hundred
fifty varieties of wheat, and hundreds of other species. They practise and promote a biodiversity
intensive for of farming that produces more food and nutrition per acre. The conservation of
biodiversity is therefore also the answer to the food and nutrition crisis. Navdanya, the
movement for biodiversity conservation and organic farming that Vandana Shiva started in 1987,
is spreading. So far, they have worked with farmers to set up more than one hundred community
seed banks across India They also help farmers make a transition from fossil-fuel and chemical-
based monocultures to bio-diverse ecological systems nourished by the sun and the soil.
Biodiversity has been her teacher of abundance and freedom, of cooperation and mutual giving.
4. Discuss Robert Boyle’s concept of nature.
Robert Boyle was a famous seventeenth century chemist and governor of the Corporation for the
Propagation of the Gospel among the New England Indians. He wanted to rid the native people
of their ideas about nature. For the natives nature was a kind of goddess. Robert Boyle argued
that such veneration for nature has been an obstacle for man in establishing dominance over
nature and its creatures. His theory was anthropocentric. Anthropocentrism teaches that man is
the highest creation and he has a right rule over nature the way he wants. But to the natives,
nature was a goddess to be worshipped. Even in our culture we call the earth as “bhoomidevi” –
mother earth. Boyle was against such a concept.
5. How did Robert Boyle attack native people’s perception of nature?
Robert Boyle attacked the native people’s perception of nature by saying that man had all the
right to subdue nature and exploit it the way he wanted. Robert Boyle was a famous seventeenth
century chemist and governor of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel among the
New England Indians. He wanted to rid the native people of their ideas about nature. For the
natives nature was a kind of goddess. To Boyle the earth is merely dead matter and so nothing is
being killed. As philosopher and historian Carolyn Merchant points out, this shift of perspective,
from nature as a living, nurturing mother to inert, dead, and manipulable matter was well suited
to the activities that would lead to capitalism. The domination images created by Bacon and
other leaders of the scientific revolution replaced those of the nurturing earth, removing a
cultural constraint on the exploitation of nature. Now people were free to dig into the earth for
minerals like gold, iron and copper and also for fuel like coal and to mutilate her body by cutting
down trees for timber and firewood.
6. Comment on the idea of Earth University.
Many crises are intensified by globalization. So we need to move away from the idea of nature as
dead matter. We need to move to an ecological paradigm, and for this, the best teacher is nature
herself. That is why Vandana Shiva started the Earth University at Navdanya’s farm. The Earth
University teaches Earth Democracy, which is the freedom for all species to evolve within the
web of life, and the freedom and responsibility of humans, as members of the earth family, to
recognize, protect, and respect the rights of other species. Earth Democracy is a shift from
anthropocentrism to eco- centrism. And since we all depend on the earth, Earth Democracy
translates into human rights to food and water, to freedom from hunger and thirst. Because the
Earth University is located at Navdanya, a biodiversity farm, participants learn to work with
living seeds, living soil, and the web of life. Participants include farmers, school children, and
people from across the world. Two of the most popular courses at the Earth University are “The
A-Z of Organic Farming and Agro-ecology,” and “Gandhi and Globalization.”
7. Comment on Tagore’s views about nature.
Rabindranath Tagore was India’s national poet and a Nobel Prize Winner. Tagore started a
learning centre in Shantiniketan, in West Bengal, India, as a forest school, both to take
inspiration from nature and to create an Indian cultural renaissance. The school became a
university in 1921, growing into one of India’s most famous centres of learning. In “The
Religion of the Forest,” Tagore wrote about the influence that the forest dwellers of ancient India
had on classical Indian literature. The forests are sources of water and the storehouse of a
biodiversity that can teach us the lessons of democracy of leaving space for others while drawing
sustenance from the common web of life. Tagore saw unity with nature as the highest stage of
human evolution. In his essay Tapovan (Forest of Purity). Tagore writes: “Indian civilization has
been distinctive in locating its source of regeneration, material and intellectual, in the forest, not
the city. India’s best ideas have come where man was in communion with trees and rivers and
lakes, away from the crowds. The peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of
man. The culture of the forest has fuelled the culture of Indian society. The culture that has
arisen from the forest has been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life, which are
always at play in the forest, varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight and
sound and smell. The unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism, thus became
the principle of Indian civilization.”
8. What ideas of Tagore inspired Vandana Shiva to start Earth University?
The learning centre in Shantiniketan, in West Bengal, started by Tagore inspired Vandana Shiva
to start the Earth University. According to Tagore the forests are sources of water and the
storehouse of a biodiversity that can teach us the lessons of democracy-of leaving space for
others while drawing sustenance from the common web of life. Tagore saw unity with nature as
the highest stage of human evolution. In his essay Tapovan (Forest of Purity), Tagore writes:
“Indian civilization has been distinctive in locating its source of regeneration, material and
intellectual, in the forest, not the city. India’s best ideas have come where man was in
communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from the crowds. The peace of the forest has
helped the intellectual evolution of man.” In Tagore’s writing s, the forest was not just the source
of knowledge and freedom: It was the source of beauty and joy, of art and aesthetics, of harmony
and perfection. It symbolized the universe. He said that the forest teaches people union and
compassion.
Answer the following questions in about 300 words.
1. Discuss Tagore’s views on forest as a source of beauty and joy, of art and aesthetics, of
harmony and perfection.
Rabindranath Tagore was India’s national poet and a Nobel Prize Winner. Tagore started a
learning centre in Shantiniketan, in West Bengal, India, as a forest school, both to take
inspiration from nature and to create an Indian cultural renaissance. The school became a
university in 1921, growing into one of India’s most famous centres of learning. In “The
Religion of the Forest,” Tagore wrote about the influence that the forest dwellers of ancient India
had on classical Indian literature. The forests are sources of water and the storehouse of a
biodiversity that can teach us the lessons of democracy of leaving space for others while drawing
sustenance from the common web of life. Tagore saw unity with nature as the highest stage of
human evolution.

In his essay Tapovan (Forest of Purity), Tagore writes: “Indian civilization has been distinctive
in locating its source of regeneration, material and intellectual, in the forest, not the city. India’s
best ideas have come where man was in communion with trees and rivers and lakes, away from
the crowds. The peace of the forest has helped the intellectual evolution of man. The culture of
the forest has fuelled the culture of Indian society. The culture that has arisen from the forest has
been influenced by the diverse processes of renewal of life, which are always at play in the
forest, varying from species to species, from season to season, in sight and sound and smell. The
unifying principle of life in diversity, of democratic pluralism, thus became the principle of
Indian civilization.”
According to Tagore the forests are sources of water and the storehouse of a biodiversity that can
teach us the lessons of democracy – of leaving space for others while drawing sustenance from
the common web of life. Tagore saw unity with nature as the highest stage of human evolution.
In Tagore’s writings, the forest was not just the source of knowledge and freedom: It was the
source of beauty and joy, of art and aesthetics, of harmony and perfection. It symbolized the
universe. He said that the forest teaches people unity and compassion.
2. Vandana Shiva’s “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Forest” is an attempt to
highlight the integration of humans with nature. Discuss.
It is very correct to say that Vandana Shiva’s “Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the
Forest” is an attempt to highlight the integration of humans with nature. There are two distinct
views about nature. One is anthropocentric and the other is eco-centric. The anthropocentric
view is that man is the supreme creature and he is the lord of the earth and its flora and fauna and
he can manipulate nature the way he wants for his comfort and joy. But the eco-centric view is
that man is just one of the creatures and there is a need for coexistence by cooperating with
different species.
It was Francis Bacon who propagated the anthropocentric view first. Then there were people like
Robert Boyle who supported this view. Robert Boyle was a famous seventeenth century chemist
and governor of the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel among the New England
Indians. He wanted to rid the native people of their ideas about nature. For the natives nature was
a kind of goddess. Robert Boyle argued that such veneration for nature has been an obstacle for
man in establishing dominance over nature and its creatures.
The eco-centric view was propagated by great people like Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore started a
learning centre in Shantiniketan, in West Bengal, India, as a forest school, both to take
inspiration from nature and to create an Indian cultural renaissance. In “The Religion of the
Forest,” Tagore wrote about the influence that the forest dwellers of ancient India had on
classical Indian literature. The forests are sources of water and the storehouse of a biodiversity
that can teach us the lessons of democracy of leaving space for others while drawing sustenance
from the common web of life. Tagore saw unity with nature as the highest stage of human
evolution.
Vandana Shiva’s ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. Her father was a
forest conservator, and her mother became a farmer after fleeing the partition of India. It is from
the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that she learned most of what she knows about ecology.
The songs and poems her mother composed for the children were about trees, forests, and India’s
forest civilizations.
Her involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with Chipko, a nonviolent
response to the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in this Himalayan region. In the
1970s, peasant women from her region in the Garhwal Himalaya had come out in defence of the
forests. Logging had led to landslides and floods, and scarcity of water, fodder, and fuel. Since
women provide these basic needs, the scarcity meant longer walks for collecting water and
firewood, and a heavier burden. So the women decided to protect the trees. When the loggers
came to cut down the trees, he women embraced the trees telling the loggers that they can cut the
trees only after killing them.
Vandana Shiva’s ideas about eco-centrism culminated in the establishment of the Earth
University at the Navdanya Farm. There Earth Democracy would be taught. Earth Democracy is
the freedom for all species to evolve within the web of life and the freedom and responsibility of
humans, as members of the earth family, to recognise, protect and respect the rights of other
species.