Devour All the Earth: Imposing Human Infrastructure on Nature

Alexis Calma

“…I had a vision of [Kurtz] on the stretcher, opening his mouth voraciously, as if to devour all the earth with all its mankind.” - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, 1899^[1]

        Humans are constantly seeking new ways to organize the world. We create concepts like the economy, measuring our wealth, resources, and production and consumption of goods and services, in hopes of giving the world a sense of order; however, these established infrastructures are not a one-size-fits-all type of deal. Humans can make attempts to comprehend and conform to these infrastructures, but the same cannot be said for nonhuman entities. The imposing of these infrastructures, specifically the human economy, on the natural world and the friction that results from the process is a driving force behind this human-centric epoch we know as the Anthropocene.

Heart of Darkness

“The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse...And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.” - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, 1899^[2]

Readers get a close-up view of the consequences of human infrastructure being forced upon nature in Heart of Darkness. The novella details the journey of Marlow, the captain of a steamship, as he searches for the elusive Kurtz in the Belgian Congo. As Conrad explains, ivory becomes more than just a commodity to the people of the Central Station. It becomes something to be worshipped, something worth sabotaging your fellow men over, because of its value. The negative effect the harvesting of ivory has on nature is merely an afterthought. First and foremost, the economic value, the value humans have placed on the material, is what registers in their minds. While we no longer harvest ivory on the scale executed by the Belgian Congo, harvesting and extraction are not practices that humans left in the past. Not too long after ivory, there was a demand for rubber in order to utilize electricity, then uranium for nuclear weapons during World War II. The most recent extraction from the Congo has been coltan, an ore used in technology such as cell phones and laptops.^[3] Humans have continued to harvest and extract what was necessary to keep up with the ever-developing technology and what is most valued by the economy.

However, as Conrad points out, humans cannot fully escape the smell of death that permeates such work. The opening scene of Anthropocene: The Human Epoch highlights the extent of modern-day ivory harvesting, detailing that the collected ivory that was eventually burned in response to laws limiting the harvesting of ivory amounted to thousands of elephants and took three months to inventory (see Fig. 1).^[4] Conrad’s description of disease “[laying] low almost every ‘agent’ in the station” showcases the danger from the human perspective.^[5] These deaths play into the romantic thought of the earth waiting for the humans to leave mentioned at the end of the excerpt. Eventually, elephants becoming scarce or the inability to recover from the disease would drive the humans out and give the earth time to heal and replenish itself. While this is great in theory, the execution is not as simple. As Anthropocene: The Human Epoch discusses in the “Extinction” section, we are currently in the middle of Earth’s sixth major extinction where the rate of extinction is increased by thousands due to interactions with humans. As time goes on, the damage humans cause becomes irreparable with extinct animals as the key example. There is such a thing as a point of no return, but it takes a long time for humans to recognize this and act. While Conrad describes the wilderness of Earth as “great and invincible,”^[6] Anthropocene: The Human Epoch disproves this, showcasing the continual degradation of its environments and lifeforms as humans seek economic advancement.

Fig. 1. Photo from Anthropocene: The Human Epoch depicting the burning of collected ivory.^[7]

The Word for World is Forest

“You know the people you’re studying are going to get plowed under, and probably wiped out. It’s the way things are. It’s human nature, and you must know you can’t change that.” - Ursula Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest, 1972^[8]

We have seen that human infrastructure is harmful to nature when imposed in such a way that does not consider future consequences; however, such a concept cannot be deemed inherently destructive. In The Word for World is Forest, the characters Davidson and Lyubov represent the opposing mindsets of obtaining resources for wealth and learning to understand the effects of the economy on nonhuman entities. While the former is obsessed with eradicating the native Athsheans of the fictional planet of Athshe for obstructing his access to resources, the latter is interested in immersing himself in the lives of the Athsheans. With these two differing points of view, Le Guin showcases the various approaches to arranging human infrastructure to be considerate of nature.

In “Unruly Edges: Mushrooms as Companion Species,” Tsing describes human nature as being handed over to social conservatives and sociobiologists who “endorse the most autocratic and militaristic ideologies.”^[9] This description aligns with the mentality of Davidson throughout most of The Word for World is Forest who is mainly concerned with harvesting wood from Athshe and creating an antagonistic relationship with the native species that inhabit the forests. When the Athsheans resist against the destruction of their homes, Davidson does not shy away from conquering them by force. The Belgian Congo is also a reflection of this mindset, disguising the colonization and harvesting as a humanitarian effort that could potentially lead to free trade.^[10] Conrad’s Kurtz and Davidson share an insatiable appetite for wealth and resources, measurements of success only relevant to humans.

Although the idea of human nature and what effect infrastructure should have on nature has been warped in the hands of social conservatives and sociobiologists, at its root, “human nature is an interspecies relationship”.^[11] Because there are countless variables when interacting with various nonhuman entities, human infrastructure must be able to adapt accordingly. Although humans are slow to notice their negative effect on the world around them, what matters is that they are capable of changing.

The Hungry Tide

“At no moment can human beings have any doubt of the terrain’s hostility to their presence, of its cunning and resourcefulness, of its determination to destroy or expel them. Every year, dozens of people perish in the embrace of that dense foliage, killed by tigers, snakes and crocodiles.” - Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide, 2005^[12]

Similar to Conrad’s descriptions of the Congo in Heart of Darkness, Ghosh also provides an antagonistic representation of nature. The Hungry Tide takes place in the Indian Sundarbans, a mangrove area that is ruled by nature. Residents of the area are fearful of their encounters with tigers and the unpredictable weather. Due to developments in housing and security, it is sometimes hard to imagine being at the mercy of the elements. Ghosh reminds humans of this vulnerability, highlighting the dangers that come with living alongside nature. Currently, there are no protections for people displaced by climate change or natural disasters. It can be challenging to comprehend how there can be such a hole in the system; however, another quote from The Hungry Tide summarizes why this is the case: “the definition of “nature” was that it included everything not formed by human intention.”^[13] Intention is the keyword. While it is easy to identify the intentions of the political leaders or organizations that cause the turmoil refugees escape from, there is no such thing when it comes to nature. Foliage cannot decide who or what it kills and the same goes for tigers, snakes, and crocodiles who do not discriminate when it comes to their prey.

While Ghosh gives human traits to nature by describing it as cunning and resourceful, it ultimately does not have human intention. This idea of intention makes the Anthropocene a challenging concept to approach. While it is not necessarily bad to have intention, such as the character of Sir Daniel who wanted to create a utopian society,^[14] it is challenging to walk the line between utilizing nature and completely destroying it. That line is often ignored for the sake of economy as seen in Heart of Darkness and The Word for World is Forest, and there is no denying that materials harvested from the earth such as rubber and coltan have advanced our use of electricity and technology, shaping the society we live in today. The economy is not the only human infrastructure to do so, as it is evident that the government is also incapable of defining and incorporating nature. It is always troubling when there is no concrete answer, no concrete line to be wary of crossing, but if it were that easy, we would not be talking about the Anthropocene in the first place.

The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable

“From the reversed perspective of our time, the complacency and confidence of the emergent bourgeois order appears as yet another of those uncanny instances in which the planet seems to have been toying with humanity, by allow it to assume that it was free to shape its own destiny.” - Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, 2016^[15]

Ghosh’s quote from The Great Derangement further clarifies the role wealth and status plays in the relationship between humankind and the earth. In the section “Stories,” Ghosh explores how the capitalist and imperialistic mindset has influenced humans’ relationship with nature for the worst. Ghosh gives the example of military bases where soldiers of higher rank are allowed to live closer to the coast despite the danger presented when it comes to tsunamis and typhoons.^[16] In this case, humans are blinded by flaunting their status to be concerned about nature. While we would like to distance ourselves from the imperialistic past, it’s hard to deny that much of ideas of wealth and hierarchy are derived from it.

The influence of wealth and status over humanity’s interaction with nature also opens up the examination of class differences in the Anthropocene. In The Hungry Tide, readers are presented with people who have their homes taken away from them in the name of preserving nature and harvesting material. There seems to be no winning for lower-class people because they are either infringing on the law or on the benefits of classes higher than theirs. Even if they are not dealing with other humans imposing laws and agreements on them, lower-class people are disproportionately impacted by climate change and there is no system in place to assist them.

Ghosh ends this passage with the idea that the planet is toying with humanity. It’s common to assume that nature is passive as it does not put up much resistance when being harvested by humanity; however, in reality, humans are doing damage to themselves along with the planet. The idea that earth is amused by humanity’s existence, laughing to itself as they place themselves on the top of their own created hierarchy is a disheartening one. Similar to its depiction in Heart of Darkness, nature feels like something sinister and powerful all at once. To try to control or contain it within human infrastructure like the economy seems to be an impossible task.

Spec Ops: The Line

"We wanted to ... see how much we could push the horror end," Pearsey said. "We really wanted to add a surreal element and a horror element. Really the most terrifying thing in the world is what we do to each other." - Russ Pitts, “Don’t Be a Hero - The Full Story Behind Spec Ops: The Line,” 2012^[17]

Russ Pitts’ article “Don’t be a Hero - The Full Story Behind Spec Ops: The Line” details the creative process behind the video game Spec Ops: The Line. While not overtly about the Anthropocene, the article takes inspiration from Heart of Darkness in terms of plot and the humans’ relationship to the natural world. Just as Marlow travels through the Belgain Congo searching for Kurtz, players play as Captain Walker of the Delta Force as he looks for Colonol Konrad in the sandstorm infested city of Dubai. The use of the word horror is a direct connection to Kurtz and the jungles of the Congo, even though the word was being used in the context of the video game’s genre. Although Conrad’s story about the exploitation of both people and the earth was written many years ago and described the circumstances of a specific region of Africa, Spec Ops: The Line’s retelling utilizing a modern context showcases just how easy history can be repeated. Although humans aren’t seeking ivory as Kurtz once did, extraction is still something practiced in current society for ever-evolving technologies and advancements. The story of Heart of Darkness is one that is easily updated and, as seen by its influence on both a movie and video game, translated into different media.

This idea that humans are behind the most terrifying actions against other humans is a challenging one to come to grips with. As depicted in The Hungry Tide through Ghosh’s differentiation of humans and nature, this idea of intention is what truly characterizes an action. To know and understand the intentions of a human deciding to commit atrocities against people and the earth separates us from nature. We can make up excuses or hide behind laws (or the lack thereof) to justify our actions while nature can’t. This usually comes in the form of power dynamics, especially in status and economics. As a human-created concept to organize value, Pitts is right to say that the actions we take against others and the environment are terrifying and, in a sense, unjust because this system of value can’t be altered by people of a lower class or nature and they must rely on other humans to decide for them.

In the Palm of Darkness

“Suddenly he said something that struck me: A man never knows when the grief begins that will last forever. I looked at him and saw a tear running down his cheek. “Not grief, not joy,” I said very quietly. “A man never knows anything, Thierry, that’s his affliction.”” - Mayra Montero, In the Palm of Darkness, 1997^[18]

At the center of In the Palm of Darkness are the two characters Victor and Thierry. The former is an American zoologist searching for the almost extinct grenouille de sang frog while the latter is a Haitian experienced in outdoorsmanship. Although Victor is reflecting on his turbulent relationship with his wife Martha when this quote is spoken, it is also applicable when discussing the relationship between humans and nature as well. Humans continue to search and harvest for whatever resource is most valued by the economy and pursue it relentlessly to meet the demand. It is only when the resource is in danger of extinction that humans realize that their pursuit is unsustainable.

Before this conversation with Thierry, the amateur herpetologist Dr. Boukaka blames Victor and “you people”^[19] for using acid rain, herbicides, and deforestation as excuses to explain the rapid disappearance of the frogs in the wild. Other than these excuses, no one can pinpoint the exact time these disappearances started happening or the cause behind them during the time this novel was written. This conversation is reminiscent of the current discussion surrounding the official starting date of the Anthropocene. Since the dates are contested, there is no true answer; thus, the confused finger pointing at data ranging from ice cores to radioactive nuclei ensues in hopes that a concrete answer will give some explanation to the slow deterioration of the world.

As with the prior quotes, Montero circles this idea of “the point of no return.” In movies like Anthropocene: The Human Epoch and King Leopold’s Ghost, there always seems to be a glimmer of hope for humankind. It highlights the positive advances humans have made as a society and the potential to reverse, or at least reduce, the wrongs that have been inflicted on the Earth. This quote does not offer the same optimism, but more of an acceptance of the irreparable damage that has been done and the price that must be paid for it. Slowly, human’s negative impact on the world seems to be catching up with us.

Conclusion

        It’s fitting to close this backpack on a quote that looks to the future. As bleak as In the Palm of Darkness makes the future out to be, it is filled with uncertainties, both good and bad. However, the one certainty that we can take away is that humans cannot go on harvesting the earth with careless abandon much longer. Human infrastructure like the economy has given the world a sense of order; however, it also creates gaps between us and nonhuman entities that also inhabit the planet.

Human infrastructure can be used to give nature a voice. While we have examined the harms that the economy has caused the natural world, we have been made aware of this through the human infrastructure of story. The novellas, novels, and articles that have shined the light on this issue were pieces of information, words, and ideas put together by humans. In the same way the economy is used to organize value, the story is a human infrastructure that organizes thoughts and reflections that can be carried with us into the future to hopefully be learned from.

Although it’s unclear when the Anthropocene started, what we do know is that we are currently living in the middle of it. This will continue to be our reality until we can learn to compose infrastructure that takes nonhuman entities into consideration.