The environment is defined as the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. When the environment is altered, we are forced to adapt accordingly in order to survive. However, these alterations in the ecosystem do not come without consequences. In William Sanders’ “When This World Is All On Fire” and Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, society and its norms are revamped as the new environmental conditions affect the characters’ relationships not only with the natural world but also with one another. The adversities that accompany change bring out not only the worst but also the best in individuals as evidenced by certain disastrous effects of pride and personal ambition as well as unexpected acts of kindness brought on by human compassion and selflessness. In both the short story and the novel excerpt, the characters’ actions are driven by the threats that they face not only to themselves as individuals but also to the survival of the human race as the “individual is destroyed, man continues for ever” (Shelley 167).
William Sanders’ “When This World Is All On Fire” describes the struggle of the Indigenous peoples to resist domination by foreigners on their land, an ironic parallel in the twenty-first century, five hundred years after Columbus. With the introduction of the squatters, the anthropocentric views of Western society are brought into perspective as they contrast with the beliefs of the Indigenous peoples that we are one with nature. Anthropocentrism is the belief in which humankind is regarded as the central or most important element of existence, especially as opposed to God or animals. It is this view, combined with the disregard for environmentalism, that leads to the extreme climate change and the squatters’ status quo. Despite this fact, the squatters continue to consider nature as an entity separate from themselves, and wreak havoc on the reservation lands, having already destroyed their own. Moreover, they criticize the Cherokees for not sharing the land. “We’re not hurting anybody,” (156) says the mother of the refugee family; however, it is them who end up setting “the worst fire of the decade” (167). Furthermore, they purposely take an alternate route so that they are not in any danger themselves while, in the meanwhile, the entire reservation could have been wiped out. Sanders demonstrates the devastating effects that anthropocentric views have had and continue to have upon the livelihoods of not only humans but also other living organisms. What is nature? Is nature simply where humans are not or is nature everything and everywhere? If nature is simply a commodity for humans to abuse, then “Oh, when this world is all on fire / Where you gonna go?” (155). With the repetitive use of the song, Sanders stresses the reality of climate change and the adverse effects associated with it if not corrected.
In comparison to anthropocentrism, there is the “ecosystemic culture of Native peoples who feel neither removed from nor superior to nature, recognizing themselves as an essential part of that complex of relationships we call the environment” (151). Even the names of the Indigenous characters symbolize their intertwinement with nature: Davis Blackbear, the main character whose name represents an endangered species, and Roy Smoke, with smoke being a product of forest fires and increased release of pollutants that have damaged the environment. Sanders further employs symbolism by naming the non-Indigenous family who had moved “Birdshooter” (169), an indication of the widespread poaching often done by the white upper-class.
Mary Shelley’s The Last Man portrays the disastrous effects that pride and personal ambition can have on the environment and, in turn, on humankind, ultimately leading to the plague spreading to all nations. Nature is represented as a powerful and provocative force, capable of destroying everything in its wake. Over the course of the novel excerpt, the narrator’s perspective on nature changes from one of admiration to that of perturbation as evident from the change in its description. At first, spring symbolizes life and new beginnings as “the forest was dressed in green; the young calves frisked on the new-sprung grass” (Shelley 159), but by the end, it is winter that is seen as “a general and never-failing physician” (172). It is interesting to note how the people’s opinion of the seasons changes in respect to how the seasons benefit them.
Despite being written in 1826, The Last Man continues to serve as a cautionary tale of the possible perils that we may face if we continue to disrespect nature. The narrator, along with the rest of humankind, feels betrayed by Nature, whom they call “our mother, and our friend” (168). What they fail to realize is these environmental disasters are consequences of their abuse and disrespect of Mother Nature. In light of the recent Industrial Revolution, Shelley foreshadows the dangers of what the state of the world could be in a century if we ignore efforts of conservation and environmentalism, and that recent inventions, although innovative, could not compare to the weapons of nature. Humanity is humbled through the realization that “though she permitted us to assign her laws and subdue her apparent powers, yet, if she put forth but a finger, we must quake. She could take…all that man’s mind could invent or his force achieve” (168).
All the more, panic and fear arises in all of humanity from nothing more than a solar eclipse. No violent actions are needed for this to ensue not only in the humans but also in “the wild animals in the woods [that] took fright at the unknown shapes figured on the ground” (162). This happening in the book is inspired by the historical eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 during which the extent of its ash reached as far as Europe, and was dubbed as “The Year Without A Summer”. Another example of historical context in The Last Man is the plague, which is reminiscent of the Black Plague of 1348, a zoonosis believed to have killed one third of mankind. Examples of cities and entire nations all over the world are given to emphasize the unselective nature of climate change – “the vast cities of America, the fertile plains of Hindostan, the crowded abodes of the Chinese, are menaced with utter ruin” (169). And while the winter brings with it relief, the people realize it is only temporary, and we are mere subjects to the whims of Nature.
The very norms of society are altered by these changes in the environment. Rather than making it a matter of the survival of the fittest, the people come together to save the less fortunate as they “stretch out a hand to save them” (171). Surprisingly, as it became unfashionable to display luxury, “the most luxurious were often the first to part with their indulgencies,” (172) with the noblewomen quitting extravagant practices that they before deemed as necessities. In addition, the elite from other countries who came to England as refugees experienced a reversal of roles, “now, with hoe in hand, turned up the soil,” (172) resulting in a drastic change in their relationship with the natural world, from which they had been disconnected before.
Through their stories, William Sanders and Mary Shelley implore the reader to shift to a biocentric perspective, in which one decenters humanity’s importance and instead explores the complex interrelationships between the human and the non-human. Despite being science fiction, “When This World Is All On Fire” and The Last Man base their forewarnings on tangible facts as climate change is occurring today, and the natural world as we know it, along with our relationships with it, are evolving for better or for worse. As seen in the stories, an anthropocentric point of view may lead not only to the destruction of the natural world but also to the eradication of the human species.