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Aldo Leopold's Ideas In Gold Fame Citrus, By Claire Watkins

1103 Words5 Pages

Aldo Leopold presents many ideas that make our minds turn at fast speeds with what’s happening to our land in the present day. These ideas he presents entangle themselves into our daily lives and daily reading. Gold Fame Citrus is just another one of those things that entangles itself within the ideas of Aldo Leopold. The more you read Leopold and let it sink in the better clarity you'll have given the scenes in Gold Fame Citrus; they take on a new life. Leopold’s agreeable and disagreeable ethics are intertwined within Claire Watkins novel, Gold Fame Citrus.
Watkins writes about a place that most can picture within their minds even if they have never been there. California is mostly, if not all the way, known for exactly what the book is …show more content…

Leopold says:
The individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. His instincts prompt him to compete for his place in that community, but his ethics prompt him also to co-operate… The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land... A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.” (Leopold, 383-384)
Watkin’s main character, Luz, attempts to become a part of a community to save themselves and the land from the tragedy they are in. She attempts to show respect for the fellow-members. She tries to become one with them to save the land. “The next day there were rumors of rain. Atypically dark clouds a promise in the west, a crackling anticipation lost on Luz… They were ready to go.” (Watkins, 334-335) It just doesn’t work out as Leopold describes. Luz has to leave this community and continue on her own with her boyfriend, Ray. Luz and Ray on their own and having their own ‘land ethic’ is a better ethic than the one they were almost forced into within the community they stumbled upon. The community didn’t work towards helping build back what was lost. They kept making it worse, stealing from others and trying to dominate all around them. Luz and Ray on their own looked towards taking only what they needed. They didn't look to make the land worse off than it already

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