Analysis Of The Botany Of Desire By Michael Pollan

At its core, The Botany of Desire is a story of that encompasses the entirety of human’s cultural interaction with plants and agriculture. Throughout his writing and especially early on, Pollan often uses the word ‘coevolution’ in response to the human interaction with certain staple plants that have a long detailed history with humans. This ‘coevolution’ idea roughly refers to the idea that the evolution of human culture is deeply tied the evolution of our interactions with plants, and at a certain point Pollan refers to one of Charles Darwin’s ideas that the advancements of human civilization from the very beginning are due to in part, humans actions of flowering plants and moving them. Michael Pollan has written other works that have to …show more content…
More specifically he seems to write how the plants assert their control over humans throughout history in many ways, how they manage to succeed and achieve their goal of expansion and growth by expressing certain traits designed to attract humans, which will be discussed in more depth later in this review. The majority of the story is based around human’s interaction with a few plants to that have a long history with mankind, including the apple tree, the marijuana plant, tulips, and the potato. Each of the different stories that arise from their connection to humans highlights a different realm of human desire so to speak, from the desire to beauty, to power, and even to the human desire for …show more content…
When John Chapman was traveling along the American Frontier via the Ohio River, he was rapidly helping create new orchards Westward across America. Pollan goes into depth about his character, highlighting his unconventional attitude and actions. He goes on to state that the real reason for this rapid expanse was not due to need for fresh fruit, but rather for the huge demand for the hard alcoholic cider the apples could produce once fermented. Once the idea that alcohol could be made with such ease on the frontier, and sweet apple flavored alcohol at that, it really resonated with the people, and was widely accepted and wanted to be grown by the people at the time. The apple tree had gotten exactly what it wanted and I think this kind of ties into the coevolution factor that I mentioned earlier and which Pollan talks about a lot. The apples were successful by producing new flavors and variations with each growth, and the people loved it. They not only gave the people new things to experiment with, but also provided them with that feeling with which many desired, to be intoxicated and happy. The author also ties this idea in with the cultural history of the marijuana plant, and how it’s cultivation has changed a