Olivia
Fan
To Hate or not to Hate: An exploration of
Misanthropic messages in “Desert of Solitude”
In his book “Desert Solitaire” Abbey displays distrust for
“humanity”. He describes it as misanthropic. He expresses it directly and also
indirectly through the use of story telling. How does Abbey define “humanity”
exactly? Throughout the book Abbey has a theme of duality, so it only makes
sense that Abbey would have two definitions for what he calls humanity. Readers
could misinterpret him for a bitter introvert who hates people. When in
actuality Abbey would love to have family or friends with him at some points.
He does not hate people or necessarily humanity, but rather the warped society
that we have created. Therefore Abbey is not as misanthropic as he thinks he is
just frustrated with cultures ability to change.
You could not say that Abbey hates people. In his chapter Cowboys and Indian
part two he directly states that he gets lonely he says “that the one thing
better than solitude, the only thing better then solitude is society” (Abbey
97). He then goes onto explain that his definition of society is not a city,
but a group of friends or family. Abbey makes it very clear that he is not a
people hater. He appreciates people their qualities and the relationships you
can build with them. His loneliness is also expressed by his displacement of
qualities he misses from humanity onto aspects of nature. These small
descriptions make it seem impossible for Abbey to hate Humanity either. He says later in
the book, “I was accused of being against civilization, against science,
against humanity. Naturally, I was flattered and at the same time surprised,
hurt, a little shocked. He repeated the charge. But how, I replied, being
myself a member of humanity (albeit involuntarily, without prior consultation),
could I be against humanity without being against myself, whom I love - though
not very much…” (244). Abbey is clearly picking fun of himself here, but the
ideas and his shock are true he never meant to come of the way he did. Abbey
does not hate people or humanity. What he does hate is the destructive culture
we have some how taken on.
In Omohundro’s article “What is
Culture?” he describes the seven characteristics necessary for culture.
“1.Cultures are integrated
2. Cultures are products of history.
3. Cultures can be changed, and the
can cause change.
4. Cultures are strengthened by
values.
5. Cultures are powerful
determinants of behavior.
6. Cultures are
largely composed and transmitted by symbols.
7. Human
culture is unique in complexity and variability” (Omohundro 36).
For Abbey not all of these are deterrents in every culture.
Abbey really only hates the rapid change in consumer culture that has started.
To get even more specific the roots of Abbey’s hatred are focused on numbers 3
and 5.
Abbey is clearly able to discuss this general hatred for our evolving culture
through many little rants and short stories. He shows a clear hatred for anyone
who disrupts or destroys the natural order of nature, but Abbey never attacks
any specific person instead he attacks groups. He attacks sub-cultures of our
consumer culture. The groups he rants against are the businessmen, tourist,
shepherds, and the government. All of these titles are cultural constructs. He
says that sheepherders are “as hog-rich as they are pig headed” (31). He thinks
that their persecution of the wolves is ridiculous if one whole pack could be
supported on one sheep, and they don’t need the money. He continues on with his
hatred of consumer destruction by describing the industry that national parks
are becoming. He dislikes the tourist industry because they are disrupting
nature. He believes everyone should vacation to a national parks, but not
interfere just observe. In his chapter Rocks he describes the greed of
prospectors as they mined for rocks. For Abbey these people have done nothing
wrong he blames the culture for dictating their behavior. This falls under
category 5. Omohurdro discusses this and says, “Culture is powerful because
much of what we have learned is beneath our awareness, or has become a
comfortable habit…But sometimes we step out between the bars of our cage and do
something alternative, deviant, unique or creative. All of us break some of the
rules sometime” (Omohundro 38). For Abbey traveling to the wilderness and
working at Arches is his break from the cage before he goes back to New York
City. He is able to look back at the cage we live in and criticize us for
getting trapped in our consumerism. He believes everyone needs to take
vacations in nature just to get some perspective. Abbey says, “Wilderness is
not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as
water and good bread. A civilization which destroys what little remains of the
wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and
betraying the principle of civilization itself.” He is saying human
civilization is cutting off the origins of humanity. He wants us to defend our
humanity against our culture.
In his chapter Down the River he is more direct about his feelings. He starts
off by belittling the government witch he refers to as the “Beavers” for
building a damn and flooding the Glen Canyon (151). He hates it because it was
and interference that ruined the canyon witch he refers to as “Eden” (152).
This dam is made even more offensive because of its lack of purpose. This is an
example the pointless progress Abbey hates. He goes on a journey to see the dam
and afterwards is so angry he discuses the idea of misanthropy. Misanthropy is
a distrust or disdain for Human nature. He mentions other writers who were also
clearly dissatisfied with humanity. He then goes on listing all the things he
hates about humanity “ The useless crap we burry ourselves in”, “The domestic
routine”, “Crafting cheating”, and “Slimy advertising of business men” (Abbey 155).
However, Abbey is not saying the people who are businessmen are slimy and the
people in domestic routine are pathetic, but is criticizing the social
construct of these things. He does not hate humanity and the people who occupy
its roles, but the conformity and consumerism we have all been taught to honor
as progress. Abbey also says, “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of
the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. A
civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the
original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of
civilization itself.” He is saying human civilization is cutting off the
origins of humanity. He wants us to defend our humanity against our culture.
In
the chapter Cowboys and Indians Abbey describes how both groups are disappearing.
Cowboys disappear to the modernized food industry, and the Indians to tourism.
He says “Cowboys and Indians disappear, dying off or transforming themselves by
torturous degrees into something quite different. The originals are nearly gone
and will soon be lost forever in the overwhelming crowd” (Abbey 111). There is
a certain amount of sympathy Abby makes us feel for these dying cultures. These
culture which were once American Icons. This ties into requirement 5 of
Omohundro, but also 3. Omohundro explains that the only thing constant in
culture is change. Abbey calls this change progress, and thinks there is
nothing worse. He is able to make readers feel slight disgust with a country
that claims to be accepting of many cultures, but ends up killing them off.
That is the nature of our society though we live in a culture where ideals are
always pushed out and progress is always made. Yet we can see it’s not all
culture he hates just our tendency to progress, change, and shift as a nation
to the newer and shinier trends, but in particular shifting this way without
the consideration of how conformity will affect our environment and older
traditions.
The ending is where you realize
Abbey most defiantly doesn’t hate humanity. Abbey ends up leaving his life in
the desert for a life in New York City witch at first seems surprising, but he
is going to be a volunteer caseworker. He is not only going to be the defender
of humanity, but because he misses civilization. He says, “After twenty-six
weeks of sunlight and stars, wind and sky and golden sand, I want to hear once
more the crackle of clamshells on the floor of the bar in the Clam Broth House
in Hoboken. I long for a view of the jolly, rosy faces on 42nd
Street and the cheerful throngs on the sidewalks of Atlantic Avenue… I grow
weary of nobody’s company but my own” (265). Abbey goes back to a big city in
order to get in touch with humanity again. Omohundro would say he is
re-entering his cage in society. For these reasons I don’t think Abby is
misanthropic. There is a clear distrust for our culture because of it powerful
influence over our actions and it’s rapid-fire shifts, but none for human
nature. He wishes for us to preserve our human nature against the corruption of
our culture.
Bibliography
Abbey, Edward. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. New York: Touchstone, 1990.
Omohundro, John. Think Like an Anthropologist: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. McGraw-Hill, 2007.
