Justice Shiller
10/29/14
English Setting in the Passages
The setting in the passages progress from natural objects to man made objects to mirror how when man takes over land ruins it and it fades from perfect to corrupted. In the first passage, only nature is talked about and is described as living. The image of the "horizon ris[ing] and fall[ing]" mirrors an image of a person's chest rising and falling as they breathe. The wind and the afternoon are described with active and full movement, as the "wind swirled" through the wheat and the "afternoon rippling" with the rain. Swirled and rippling are both active words that give life to natural objects. Man made objects are introduced in passage two. The start of the mans takeover of land can be seen with the "leaf caught in a crack between the Adobe bricks", being that man has captured nature. Though mans takeover already started, the land isn't completely tainted yet because the leaf was "bobbing [and] dancing", still showing life and resilience. In the last passage the "wind swirled" yet in this passage it subsided to "an intermittent breeze", showing a backwards progression from something big to something small. Not only was the corruption of man made objects introduced but the fading away of nature is also introduced. As shown in passage 3, the natural objects became spoiled from corruption. The fruits "grow bitter" because of it. The fruit doesn't "bear" in Comala because it's too corrupted.
