69 pages • 2-hour read
Silent Spring
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Chapters 9-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Rivers of Death”
The widespread use of chemicals to control insects leads to another terrible impact: the disturbance of water habitats like streams and rivers. This is well documented in the case of the salmon in the Miramachi River, where the salmon run was “broken” (130) by wide aerial spraying of DDT in the Canadian government’s attempt to control the budworm. Carson describes that “within two days dead and dying fish […] were found along the banks” (131), and that a larger alteration of the stream environment had taken place. Carson asserts that “modern methods of insect control threaten the fishes inhabiting the streams in the shelter of the trees” (136).
Yet while Carson argues that there is widespread devastation as a result of chemical spraying, she is also hopeful that there are ways to “preserve the forests and to save the fishes, too,” and reminds her audience that there are “alternative methods” (138) to be found. Carson also discusses the effects of chemical pollution on closed water habitats, like ponds, and coastal environments, where shellfish absorb dangerous poisons that have been leaked into these waterways. To Carson, “the whole situation is beset with questions for which there are at present no satisfactory answers” (151).
Chapter 10 Summary: “Indiscriminately from the Skies”
As the public perception of poisons has shifted, and despite the fact that current poisons are “more dangerous than any known before, they have […] become something to be showered down indiscriminately from the skies” (156). The widespread spraying of chemicals is not limited to wildlife but includes cities and towns where human life can be directly impacted by these harmful compounds.
Carson utilizes two examples to illustrate the danger of “reckless large-scale treatment” (156). In the first example, attempts to control the gypsy moth population drenched the community of Long Island in DDT. Similarly, in the second example, the Department of Agriculture attempted to control the fire ant, a relatively annoying pest that has no real concern regarding “the fire ant as a menace to crops or livestock” (162). Despite these, the poisons used in an attempt to curb fire ant populations caused “losses running all the way up to complete destruction of wildlife” (165). Carson closes the chapter by again discussing “more sane and conservative methods” (172) of insect control, since the methods used to control the fire ant and gypsy moth were both ineffective, expensive, and harmful.
Chapters 9-10 Analysis
One of Carson’s main intentions in her text is to provide an argument that might sway the more common public to invest in reducing the widespread use of chemicals. Though she often notes that there are specific people who might care about these issues, like farmers, fishermen, and birdwatchers (among others), Carson moves in these chapters towards an argument that the wider public might take more interest in: that the chemicals being used to curb insect populations might have noticeable impacts on human life, in both expected and unexpected ways. In the example of the DDT spraying on Long Island, the public responded to the obvious chemical spraying by protesting. Carson connects this more direct example with less noticeable impacts—like the milk produced by dairy cows who are exposed to contaminated water. She posits what it means if children are drinking this milk or playing in the same polluted forests.
A common argument by the government officials to justify spraying is that it is the most cost-effective measure. Carson begins deconstructing this argument by illustrating that not only is spraying largely ineffective, but by illustrating that alternative methods of control can also be cheaper. With each additional example of failed chemical pest control, Carson reminds the reader that there are actually less expensive alternatives that have also been proven to be more effective.
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