What Is John Muir's Interpretation Of Time?

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When thinking about time one many have different interpretation on what time is. One may say time is just a clock, others may say time is forever. In this paper we will talk about four different essays and how their authors interpret on what time is. One of the authors named Henry David Thoreau used a pond to describe how he views time. Aldo Leopold decided to write about how he understood about time and life by using a mountain as an example. John Muir wrote how it takes years for trees to grow but only a day to cut them down is like life. Rachel Carson writes how pollution from modern industrial has ruined the balanced of the Earth overtime. In the essay “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For” by Thoreau, he writes about a time where he moved to Walden Pond. Thoreau wrote how he would go a-fishing in the pond and he would drink directly from the pond. While drinking from the pond he would see the sandy bottom. He explains, “I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. It’s thin current slides away, but eternity remains.” (Paragraph 13). He is basically saying that he views time like the pond. The sandy bottom represents infinity and the water passing by is time. Just like in Thoreau’s …show more content…

He writes, “God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools,-only Uncle Sam can do that.” (Paragraph 16). Muir is saying that the trees have survived by many natural disasters for hundreds of years only to be cut down by humans in a second so he would like if the government to make laws so the trees can be protected from human harm. We can view the trees as how Muir views time and life. In life we age everyday but one day all of a sudden we will be gone whether its from old age, disease, or an