Loneliness And Redemption In Reger's Garden Of Eden

A single rose within a garden of daisies is considered a weed. That single rose can also serve a role as contributing to the beauty of the whole garden. There is a clash in California between habitual nature and artificial human modified nature. Much of California’s nature has become modified by humans to produce new forms involving appearance, agriculture, and urbanization as opposed to letting it grow naturally. California has shifted to rely on man to create its own version of nature, which therefore creates a façade of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden within California also involves the presence of the desert, which serves as a sanctuary. The desert is one aspect that man cannot control. The association of the desert within the Garden

Man had tried to create a new Garden of Eden because man could not coexist with the limitations set by nature. However, to understand why the Garden of Eden failed, the good qualities of the desert should be understood as well. The Garden of Eden allures dwellers with its god-like appeal, which can be found in the desert. Man will create a path to find the prosperity of refuge and redemption in the Garden of Eden offered in the desert, if they are given the choice. The biblical desert explained in Reger’s excerpt describes the landscape as a place of redemption with the aid of God that can be made into a paradisiacal state (75). The Garden of Eden is then created in the desert because the influence of the heavenly land allows for the ability to shed old identities and start over. The desert offers land that supports no man and is never void of life (Austin 60-61). The true virtues of the desert come from the plants and animals who have chosen the desert as their home. The desert appears to serve as a type of sanctuary because it appears to still have control over itself as the flowers and plants continue to grow of their own accord. The atmosphere created by the plants and animals is enchanting because there is no evidence of modifications from humans. The Garden of Eden is not failed within the desert because it draws visitors who have experienced it back in as quoted in Austin’s text. “Men who have lived there, miners and cattlemen, will tell you this, not so fluently, but emphatically, cursing the land and going back to it” (65). The hidden treasures and secrets within the desert also seem to allure dwellers back in because it causes them to search for their own hidden gem. The hidden gem that the dwellers are searching for can range from seeking redemption and admiring the obscure environment. The desert’s environment has a