Idyllic versus catastrophic
The way the author begins her book is important because she portrays two very different images from the first pages. First, she describes an idyllic village, with blooming flowers, green hills and flowers all over the place. The people living in that village and enjoys the fruits and vegetables the land has to offer and nothing disrupts nature. Then, she describes an environment completely ruined by humankind: all vegetation died out, the young animals died only after a few days of being born and the people living in that area began dying as well. These two images put side by side has the purpose of showing just how much humankind influences the environment in a negative way and how everything can be destroyed in a matter of days.
Natural repellent
Carson reaches the conclusion that pesticides and herbicides are not only ineffective but also dangerous. They kill other species that were not targeted in the first place and makes it harder to get rid of the undesirable species by killing other plant species or animals that were natural predators of the pests the pesticides and herbicides tried to exterminate. Carson argues that the best solution to dealing with such pests is using natural ways to control the growth of unwanted plant and animal species. She argues that it has been done before and in countries like Holland a plant called marigold have been used to control the worms that were eating roses. Thus, nature is portrayed as being more than capable of taking care of its undesirable species but only if mankind is willing to let it take its course.
White rooftops
In the seventh chapter, Carson analyzes the use of pesticides in the Midwest when in the 1950s they tried to eradicate the Japanese beetle from the area. The quantity of pesticides used was so massive than the pesticide began to gather on the houses’ rooftops in white piles. The image portrayed here is that of a process hard to control. Just as like a person cannot control weather, sometimes, the process of using pesticides can’t be controlled as well.
Fire ants
In the tenth chapter, Carson examines how the US tried to get rid of the fire ants that appeared in some areas. To convince the population that there was a need for something to be done, they made the public believe that many people were bitten by fire ants even though no case has been reported. By using this hurtful propaganda, the fire ants were portrayed in a negative light, something that had to be eradicated. This made the public more willing to have their lands treated with pesticides even though the studies suggested that the pesticides didn’t helped in dealing with the problem at all.
