Edward O Wilson Satire Analysis

Stereotypical Satire Satire can make a passage more entertaining in the way it makes the reader laugh, more informative in the way it contrasts the heavy subjects, and more of a riveting read. Edward O. Wilson uses satire to do these things, drawing in on the two stark sides of environmentalism, illustrating the impossible ridiculousness of such discussions. He uses satire to poke fun at the opposing sides, writing as a radicalist on either the far right or far left. With his use of satire, Wilson draws in the reader, gets them laughing, and then brings up some both very true and very important issues, deluding them through satire as to not turn away the reader, conveying just how meaningless environmental squabbles are. Wilson starts

On the pro side, he pokes fun at the radical responses enviros have when an endangered species is found. “Some ... student with a summer job will find an endangered red spider ... and before you know what happened ... you will be shut down.” He blankets this example in satire through the obscurity of the species, the red spider, the dramaticness of the repercussions of finding said creature, and the fact that it’s just some poor student that found this spider. He provides the same almost mocking satire on the anti-environmentalist side, showing just how little they care for the earth. He ridicules the capitalistic corporations laughing, “their idea of conservation is stocking trout streams and planting trees around golf courses.” I spy some satire. The extremity of this example itself comes as satire, considering few people really believe that putting trees on a golf course really constitutes as ‘environmentalism.’ These wild examples provide even more evidence of how trivial environmental issues are, as well as the silliness of their arguments. To sum it up, Wilson uses obscure, over-the-top examples to put satire in his writing, effectively making it both informative and