Monday, March 27, 2017
2nd Blog topic: Lopez's "Presentation of Whales"
Here is your second blog post topic. How did reading éAPresentation of Whales" ('the experience of the exterior landscape') shape the 'interior landscape of your brains' as Barry Lopez puts it? Feel free to comment on any aspect that strikes you the most.
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The fact that we live in a country that is not surrounded by an ocean puts us a step further away from the problems of the ocean life. Although we may read about pollution and whale hunting every once in a while in the newspaper, Lopez's "Presentation of Whales" gives a concrete and dramatic scenario on the hardships whales have to go through. What struck me the most was the realization that all around the world, humans always approach nature and animals as "an opportunity" that can benefit them. Whether it may be for cosmetics, fashion or simply money. In the case of whales, their teeth and fat are seen as items that could be traded instead of an actual organ of a living being.
ReplyDeleteExamples similar to Lopez's article exist around us as well. In the animal shelters, dogs which are considered to be more powerful such as pitbulls are the ones that need to be held in captivity and under surveillance. Not because they are a threat to the other dogs or shelter volunteers but because they are worth a lot of money if one were to steal and sell them in a dog fight. Therefore, the incidents concerning those dogs came to my mind as I was reading the "Presentation of Whales" as it correlates with the issue mentioned in the article. Overall, the exploitation of animals for our own benefit will always be a huge problem in our world and the best thing we can do is to educate ourselves and our surroundings on such saddening events no matter how far away they take place.
If I had to say what struck me about Barry Lopez’s “A Presentation of Whales”, it would be the fact that how most of humanity acts indifferent to not just the suffering of whales, but also to people who really care about them. The work of people who care about the whales are undermined by the masses who are just there for “show”. To be fair I would have been one of those people who would have just watched like a bystander at the crossroads waiting for the traffic lights. I would have thought that it was not my place to interfere with the drunk people who were walking on the whales or the people who were there to take their teeth as trophies because I would see it as a job for the law enforcement. On the other hand, I would not be like the Greenpeace volunteers or the government agencies who direct the scientists for their own political agendas but not concerned with the real issue at hand. I like most of us would have been a part of a grander narrative in which I was just a spectator. It is however important to mention that while I may have little importance in this grand narrative, in the end I and people like me will be affected by it as well, whether we like it or not and when that time comes, we will wish that we had something sooner. This indifference of common folk in times of crisis is what I saw when I read Barry Lopez’s “A Presentation of Whales”.
ReplyDeleteLopez’s “Presentation of Whales” creates a world which is familiar to us, and we can encounter in our world like this event. Actually we do not live near ocean or we cannot have a chance to see whales, but we can encounter with this scenario in another natural event. For example we can see a new in newspaper that two boys cut the dog’s ears or we can see burning of the thousand of trees in Muğla, but there should be the ones who carry water with bucket. Abusing the nature or torturing to animals cannot be the human’s behaviour. Lopez shows us that people who damage and destroy something important about our world are the one who can save and take measures not to happen again. The images that come into my mind while I am reading are different.There are two kinds of people, two different attitudes which are good and bad. These remind me we are living with nature and animals they are not inferior from human beings, so we do not have right to cut them or kill them, instead we should respect them and protect them. Lopez aims showing to the readers the truth of environment and wants to criticise attitudes of human, so while we are reading we should think and image the nature we live in.
ReplyDeleteEven though we do not live near to ocean and to the creatures that live in the ocean, such an incident that is told in “A Presentation of Whales” might be shocking or can force the reader to think about in different ways. To be honest, I wasn’t shocked with the aggression and the opportunist or genocidal attitude of humans towards whales in the story because of the fact that it is clearly stated or at least, it is main message that one can easily get. The way Lopez expressed the situation and the way he depicted the catastrophe in “A Presentation of Whales” impressed me rather than the expected outcome of the text. The apathy of the experts –mammalogist who were near to the scene but did not bother themselves to show up- or the people who got drunk and tried to walk on the back of whales or veterinarians who tried to kill whales by implementing wrong methods and description of these scenes were powerful enough to reflect the opportunistic and anthropocentric behaviour of humanity against any situation that does not harm themselves.
ReplyDeleteAt one point of the text, there was a sentence was fair enough to explain the attitude of humans and their ideas about how they were superior than the any other living thing, “Whales should be given their best chance to survive.” I perceived that sentence in a hypocritical context, instead of reading it as something desiring to be helpful. Giving best chance to any life form while you are one of the possible reasons to their catastrophic consequence is like taking the candy of a little girl and giving back to her and then waiting for an appreciation. That is what you have to do in the first place, yet the ideas that shaped in the minds of individuals (the crowd) were not like this, instead they were mostly trying to remove the teeth of whales or trying to cut them and etc. So I cannot claim that the experience or the incidents –characters experienced- of exterior landscape in the text changed a lot my mindset.This might sound like a biased behaviour but the reflection of incidents on the interior ended up with the overlapping of reckless occupant force and their all ungracious or brutal images.
I think "The Presentation of Whales" can be seen as a concrete example of the selfishness of humankind.When someone asks us our opinions about other living creatures, we are all ready to say positive things and good intentions about them.However, when we come across a real situation,like in "Presentation of Whales",our words fly away,thoughts and egoism remain.That's why we have no right to find the people,who are illustrated in the article,strange because both the insensitive drunks and the sensitive scientists represent us.In fact,they are the mirror of human nature.Some people walk up and down on the dying sperm whales.Some people try to take a photo to show their "followers".Some see these whales only as "money".Although the actions are different,the only goal is to satisfy themselves without thinking about other living creatures.This event may not be familiar to us but we encounter many similar events during the day and unfortunately our reactions do not change much.So.. the most important thing is to give up seeing ourselves in the center of the world and to realize that there are other living things in the world.They share the same nature with us.Moreover,from time to time,we need to look at the world from their eyes to escape from our selfishness and remember their existence.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading "A Presentation of Whales" by Barry Lopez, I gained conscious about the whales in danger which inhabit so far away from where I live now. As I read the text slowly, I felt very sad about what was happening there to the whales. Then I thought that feeling sad does not bring the whales back to the life, something should be done for their sakes. I also witnessed the people who were trying hard to help the whales. Then what stroke me the most that some greedy people's approaches to the situation going on. Some people's cupidity that they could benefit from the dying whales' teeth made me feel even sadder because there is literally nothing we can do about those kindS of feelings of people. While the whales are dying, the only thing that matters to them how they can benefit or for some of them how they can record the event which is obviously a big thing in history. This text taught me that some people are conscious and sensitive to the other living beings' lives but the other and unfortunately most of them are just on the track of benefit, basically material things.
ReplyDeleteThe main issue about the environment is whales in Barry Lopez’s article. They are doomed because of ignorant and indifferent people. It is human being who should help for their call to save them yet people around are not interested enough. It is more enjoyable to take photos of stranded whales. The thing that affects me is the reaction of people to the event. I know that they did not struggle enough to save the lives of whales. Even though some technical and related groups came there and started an investigation, it does not mean that they did their best. People do not care animals’ or any other living being’s lives as much as their lives. I find it selfish and terrible. Throughout the article I was just like ‘no, no do it , try it for them!’ but it was vain. Emotionally, no one feel up to fight for the whales and save their lives. It was just like a play and It was about to end one way or another. The most important deduction is the wisdom. I mean that the experts are just experts and that’s it. It is important to be ready for any kind of situation such as stranded whales, killed tigers, animals who became extinct and so. We are all related to each other and members of the same chain. If the chain break down, the holly(!) human life will get into danger, too.
ReplyDeleteThe main issue about the environment is whales in Barry Lopez’s article. They are doomed because of ignorant and indifferent people. It is human being who should help for their call to save them yet people around are not interested enough. It is more enjoyable to take photos of stranded whales. The thing that affects me is the reaction of people to the event. I know that they did not struggle enough to save the lives of whales. Even though some technical and related groups came there and started an investigation, it does not mean that they did their best. People do not care animals’ or any other living being’s lives as much as their lives. I find it selfish and terrible. Throughout the article I was just like ‘no, no do it , try it for them!’ but it was vain. Emotionally, no one feel up to fight for the whales and save their lives. It was just like a play and It was about to end one way or another. The most important deduction is the wisdom. I mean that the experts are just experts and that’s it. It is important to be ready for any kind of situation such as stranded whales, killed tigers, animals who became extinct and so. We are all related to each other and members of the same chain. If the chain break down, the holly(!) human life will get into danger, too.
ReplyDeleteThe main issue about the environment is whales in Barry Lopez’s article. They are doomed because of ignorant and indifferent people. It is human being who should help for their call to save them yet people around are not interested enough. It is more enjoyable to take photos of stranded whales. The thing that affects me is the reaction of people to the event. I know that they did not struggle enough to save the lives of whales. Even though some technical and related groups came there and started an investigation, it does not mean that they did their best. People do not care animals’ or any other living being’s lives as much as their own lives. I find it selfish and terrible. Throughout the article I was just like ‘no, no do it , try it for them!’ but it was vain. Emotionally, no one feel up to fight for the whales and save their lives. It was just like a play and It was about to end one way or another. The most important deduction is the wisdom. I mean that the experts are just experts and that’s it. It is important to be ready for any kind of situation such as stranded whales, killed tigers, animals who became extinct and so. We are all related to each other and members of the same chain. If the chain break down, the holly(!) human life will get into danger, too.
ReplyDeleteBarry Lopez's article " A Presentation of Whales" is a perfect source to become aware of the real reactions and attitudes of people who do not understand the main function of nature and it's inhabitants. Actually, Regarding the difficult situation of the whales, what people do, especially to benefit from whales' teeth etc. is a totally humanly behavior and article is a way to show them all. I am not talking about the minority group that could try to do something for whales but the ones who only care about what they can get from whales, like a picture of the desperate whales on Instagram that gets 1,000 likes in 2 hours or whales' teeth that can be sold for the big amount of money. This kind of an ignorance originates from an arrogance of human. All those technology, weapons and senses are the source of arrogance that people are proud of. And finally all these connections bring us to the main point that people are selfish and ignorant creatures that do not even help less evolved ones.
ReplyDeleteThis is joke right? I think yes, because making a dystopia real must be a joke only. I remembered Jonathan Swifts’ A Modest Proposal while reading it because his dystopian world has these terrifying events like in A Presentation of Whales. On the other hand, it makes me think the question that how far away has man gone from his own reality? Because reality reveals in nature, nature is reality, itself. Therefore, it may be said that man has created his own reality apart from nature (if it is possible), and has been living in this hallucination for so long. There are answers in the world’s history of course about determining man’s hallucination: Industrialization, World wars, capitalism, consumer communities, globalism, materialism, colonialism and etc. However, the main reason of revealing the hallucination is man’s endless ego including his demands on every living like a birth right. Actually his demands are meaningless to nature, the reality, in which an irony (or a cosmic one) reveals in because there is one, simple truth that humankind’s life is bound to bees on this planet otherwise there will be no life to concern about. Therefore, that is the reality not hallucination which man must understand and shape his reality according to the truth otherwise nature can take easily its own revenge that is just as simple as the truth about bees.
ReplyDeleteInitially, this experience is a kind of encountering with the world through the lens of environmental imagination. In "Presentation of Whales", Barry Lopez enables average readers to experience planet-wide ecological systems that they would never physically experience.So, as Lopez states it, "affect one's caring for the physical world", "Presentation of Whales" puts a mutual perspective between a human- oriented and a nature- oriented view that connect human with non- human surroundings' experiences. In this way, Lopez also assers an environmental perspective, which forms environmental knowledge and awareness. Spinning on their own axis, they reshape interior landscape of our minds. Briefly, this is what ecocriticism and particularly Lopez in "Presentation of Whales" try to do.
ReplyDeleteI found the essay “A Presentation of Whales” as a very emotional reading. Knowing the fact that there was nothing that could be done to save the whales’ lives makes the situation even more saddening, assuming one has the ability to empathize. The ones, who seem to not have, try to take advantage of the whole situation. As Barry Lopez describes in his essay, there are many people who would not miss a chance to exploit any kind of situation. Although it was impossible to save those whales, at least they could be respected and let them die in a more peaceful way.
ReplyDeleteThe most shocking thing in the essay for me was the people cutting the dying whales with chainsaws. People who tried to take photographs in front of the whales or remove their teeth instead of helping them disturbed me very much. I have difficulty to understand how some people can think about their own gain in a life and death situation like this. These kinds of opportunistic people are the ones that have no humanity in them and they must have severed their ties with nature a long time ago.
Animals too can feel pain as much as we do. The fact that they are not human but animal should not matter in any way. Being a human brings a responsibility to one, because we are the only living beings equipped with the ability to reason and empathize with others and we should use them for goodness. It is not right to think about only yourself, you should also try to make a difference, unless you want to live for nothing.
While reading 'A presentation of Whales', I remembered that I experienced an incident which could be opposite of this one. The logerhead sea turtle (caretta caretta) which is found in Mediterranean Sea, wash ashore of the beach every summer in Ölüdeniz Fethiye that is also my hometown.People of town who also accusto to this view try to protect them and make wire netting for sea turtles. When that occurs, even in the evenings, beach is closef off to the public. I can not say this is applied truly but sometimes even in our country, people behave logically while in Barry Lopez's article shows its total opposite side. Throughout the article, we read the people'curuel way of treating towards whales. But as I mentioned before, the sea turtle case can may be one of example that some people still try to protect nature and animals.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad to witness how humans are indifferent and reckless towards the animals when we read "the Presentation of Whales." Their lives are in danger but lots of people go there in order to take pictures or see the incident. Their concern is what has happened but how the whales feel. They are the same people who make accessories from their teeth or skin. It is very terrible that humans have lost their connection with the animals, in fact with nature. Of course, there are some environmentalists, volunteers to save them and the people who really care for them. However, the scene is horrible apart from this. People should care about the health of the whales and try to find solutions. But they are much more related to the bigness of the situation. Lopez shows us people see the livings as "the other" rather than themselves and have lost their sense of unity. While reading the part in which whales are crying in despair, I feel very bad and becomes full of anger. To me, people have lost their soul and while creating "others", they have turned to "monsters" themselves.
ReplyDeleteInitially, this experience is a kind of encountering with the world through the lens of environmental imagination. Lopez enables average readers to experience planet- wide ecological systems that they would never physically experience.So, as Lopez expresses it "affect one's caring for the physical world". "Presentation of Whales" puts a mutual perspective between a human- oriented view and a nature- oriented view that connect human with non- human's experiences. In this way, Lopez also asserts environmental perspective, which forms environmental knowledge and awareness. Spinning on their own axis, they reshape interior landscape of our minds. Briefly, this is what ecocriticism and particularly Lopez in "Presentation of Whales" try to do.
ReplyDeleteLopez's article gives us another aspect about animals. The article shows how humankind can be emotionless, selfish, and cruel. we are thinking that we are the only living creatures on earth and world is running around us. We assume that the other creatures has no rights and they are our possess. But of course it is wrong. We all share the same earth and we have to be respectful the others. We have to be thankful to the nature unlike the people that Lopez mentions in his article. Maybe we this article can not be affect us enough because we are not living a country which has ocean, but we replace the whales with another kind of animals in order to understand the thing that Lopez talking about. Everyday some of as torturing the animals. We have to underdstand that we should not be selfish, emotionless and cruel to the other creatures. We have to be respectful to the nature and the ones living in it in order to preserve the balance of the world.
ReplyDelete"The Presentation of Whales" by Barry Lopez showed me the evil side of humankind that I already but try to avoid. It opened my eyes to heartbreaking reality of the some people of this world trully has an evil soul. While there are whales, actual living beings, dying out there in the ocean and all that those heartless people can think about is how they can gain money from it or how they can own it. Knowing this is something but knowing that this is really happening in somewhere in the world really makes me lose my faith and hope in humanity. Even though I know that there are also people with loving intentions, it is still could not figure out how to fight back with those kinds of evilness. Seeing animals dying and nature getting destroyed already breaks my heart and after this reading I am more awake and conscious about what is going on.
ReplyDelete"The Presentation of Whales" by Barry Lopez has a great significance on showing the senseless and pragmatic state of mind of modern people. As a mass of consume, all the people do is to gain something from the whales which are on their deathbeds. People know that they do not have a chance to save them and they try to earn something from this unfortunate situation. Some of them (mostly drunks) try to walk on the whales which is a cruel thing to do because whales have very sensible skin. Even if they do not, it is very disrespectful to a living being dying or not. Some of them try to take precious parts of whales for their economic cares. Even scientists and journalists see this event as an opportunity to learn more about whales. So they all have different interests but they have a common point. Everyone wants something from whales. It is not important what are their interests whether Scientific information or economic gain or just a stupid drunkenly challenge. They all try to use this disaster. They all see whales and nature as a commodity to use and this strongly shows the people's general thinking. That is what struck me most when i read Lopez's work.
ReplyDeleteBarry Lopez's "A Presentation of Whales" depicts the potential cruelty of humankind and attempt to become dominant on nature. Most of us define ourselves as environmentalist.However, lifestyles are far away from this definition.For example, something we use is made through anti-ecologist ways. Maybe some animals are murdered for the sake of human needs such as cosmetic or other ones. Barry Lopez takes the attention on what people are potential to damage to nature and natural things for profit or material concerns.How can a dead animal be seen as the material to earn money? Humanity is collapsing gradually and money comes before mercy for people in our modern world. In order to stop this course öf events, it is necessary to make people aware of what they do and how it is likely to end up.
ReplyDeleteThis essay has helped me to realize something that I knew about humanbeings once again and this is how selfish they can be. Most of the people other than a few who really try to save the whales' lives see this act of dying as an entertainment. It is clear that everybody wants a piece of them for their own good but no one truly cares about bleached whales that are about to die. It is so sad that a living creature's suffering, struggling or dying is seen as a fun thing to watch but even though this event happens miles away from us we can still see these kind of examples in our lives. In circuses, animals are doing shows without their approvement and especially when their teacher trains them about what they do, a lot of suffering can be seen. Still people who watch these shows do not care what is happening in the background and they watch the suffering of poor animals as an entertainment. Bets on animal fighting can also be shown as examples. So, the incidents can change, but unfortunately people's attitude is still the same everywhere.
ReplyDelete