Richard Brautigan focuses mainly on the realm of the pastoral and the realm of nature as a means of returning back to the intellectual mind that is lost in the emerging industry and urbanization of the big city. Brautigan seems nostalgic for the abundance of nature that used to exist beneath the machine industry that has commodified what nature is left. The idea of commodification is really transparent in the poem: "The Cleveland Wrecking Yard"; due to the fact that Brautigan literally places aspects of nature in a store that can be bought and sold. This perception of reality is repeated throughout the most of the writer's prose and poetry; the strive to remain in the realm of nature and the determination to return back to times when the individual could actually go "Trout Fishing in America" without being overwhelmed with industry and urbanization. Brautigan recognizes the public separating itself from; and therefore destroying, the realm of nature that the individual should be close to and experiencing.
In the poem Brautigan touches on the issues dealing with consumption and limitations of resources: "' How much are the birds?' I asked. 'Thirty-five cents apiece,' he said. 'But of course they're used. We can't guarantee anything. ... 'What kinds of animals do you have?' I asked. 'We only have three deer left,' he said."(104-105). The concept of used birds is reminiscent of the fact that they have been commodified before. A product of the environment should be free roaming; but the store owner makes the reader wonder where the birds came from if they are used. Brautigan, I think, is returing to the idea that nothing is entirely natural and pastoral. The industrialization and urbanization of the environment is inflicting upon the creatures that depend on the environment as a place of origin and refuge.
The fact that there are only three deer left forces the reader to confront the idea of resource and limitation. Without the product of the environment, deer will suffer to remain. The environment is needed in order for birds and deer to thrive. in order for them to continue existing within the new realm of industry and urbanization their environment must be bought and reenacted. The pretenc environment that is being bought and sold is a mimic of the reality which used to exist.
Brautigan really focuses on nature as a depleting aspect of reality. And his tone of nostalgia and loss is apparent within his prose and poetry as he continually refers back to the comfort and placement of nature within the settings of his writing. It is as though his writing is always relating back to nature and natural instinctual need and want to remain close to the environment.
What other poems and chapters within "Trout Fishing in America" and "A Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster" reflect the idea that nature is commodified?
Does anyone else think that the separation from nature and the environment is leading to nature as a product of the economic system?
What other ideas besides the commodificatoin of nature does Brautigan seem to argue about nature and its conflictions with modern society?
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3 comments:
In response to your question, I believe that Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America is largely about the commodification of nature. This point is proven by his story titled "The Cleveland Wrecking Yard" where actual rivers, waterfalls, trees, and even insects are sold in parts. What Braughtigan might be getting at is the commodification of America’s wilderness and the California bush (as illustrated by his piece, A Note on the Camping Craze That Is Currently Sweeping America) in the sense that pieces of America can be bought or sold, whether it be paying for a campsite or selling actual lengths of trout stream. Nature isn’t being appreciated the way it is supposed to be appreciated, so instead Braughtigan uses these creative ways to relay a message about America’s gradual obtainment of what can’t or shouldn’t be physically obtained or owned.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on some level there. I feel that perhaps many intelligent readers could discern that "Trout fishing in America" is indeed about the commodification of nature and how the pastoral, rustic truth to be found in nature's delicate embrace is preferable to the cold, impersonal hustle and bustle of a big city. However, I have always inferred that "Trout fishing in America" is about the quixotic, fleeting little whimsies that connect Brautigan's idea of an agrarian paradise with what he sees to be a rapidly changing and expanding society evolve (or de-volve, depending on how you want to put it) around him. Either interpretation is sound- I'm far to say that mine is superior- just something to think about. Either way, it's a gem.
J... your observation about the "layers" to RB's pastoral/ecological vision is a really sharp one. The "recycled" quality of the birds and the deer complicate what we might come to expect as a classic ecologist response to commodification - i.e. nature is perfect, and human destruction is bad. Period. But what you're saying, I think, is that RB's poem paints a more complex picture...not only do we have humans tampering with nature, this tampering is "repeated," as you say. So, in fact, we're further removed from nature than we might think we are. Your point that "nothing is entirely natural and pastoral" brings out this idea really astutely. Is that a bleaker picture? And how does this affect his attitude about what can be done? Is this poem about cultivating a sort of attitude, in response to the damage?
I actually think you're all talking about different facets of the same idea... the agrarian paradise that N refers to is definitely haunting the poem, I think. There's a sense of melancholy that the birds are used. But I guess the question being debated is whether the speaker thinks we can return to the paradise. Can we return the birds to a pre-used state? Does the speaker think this can happen, or does he merely long for it? These, of course, are finer points, but ones which reveal a lot about the complexities of RB's thinking.
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