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The Rhetorical Analysis Of Silent Spring, By Rachel Carson

890 Words4 Pages

The purpose of published “Silent Spring” was to alert and inform everyone about the danger the environment is in due to the spraying of pesticides. Carson wanted to let the public know the truth about pesticides that governments and health organizations were hiding from everyone. In the beginning of Chapter 2 Rachel states “The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of the air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal material.”(5). This quote explains Carson’s whole purpose of the book in one sentence; to bring change in the world by preventing the widespread use of DDT and dangerous pesticides.
Rachel Carson is writing this book to save the future of the world from the spread of deadly …show more content…

Carson is spreading the word about pesticides to anyone who wants to know because she believes that its the people right to know and that the governments and organizations should not be hiding information about them. Towards the end of Chapter 7 I feel as if this quote is directed right at the public “The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself, and without losing the right to be called civilized.”(98).
Another example of Carson’s tone is that there are many places throughout the book that shes use the word “our” as referring to everyone in the world. This happens one time at the beginning of Chapter 11 “ The communication of our world is not alone a matter of mass spraying.”(173). The way she writes her book is purposely aimed at grabbing your attention and pulling you on her side against the pesticide abuse by using keywords that make readers feel involved with the …show more content…

One of these instances is in the Chapter Needless Havoc it is about the invasion of the Japanese Beetle that found its way to America. The Government tried to spray pesticides to get rid of them but all they did was infected all the human beings and domestic animals in the area and still had the beetle crawling around. This is just one example Carson uses throughout the book of the government and organizations who misuse the pesticides and dangerous chemicals and end up harming much more than the target.
Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” as a whole was a major success. Soon after she published the book it was so powerful and awakening to the people that many laws came about that banned the use of DDT and put regulations on pesticide use. I would recommend this book to anyone with a passion for science and justice. It is a great read all together with examples from nature, to pesticides, to even animal and medical stories. However if you are looking for an action filled adventure this probably isn't the book for you. Overall it was very well written and composed book that served its purpose to help the environment a lot more than Carson had

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