Fool's Paradise By Ronald Wright: An Analysis

Progress can be defined as the development of a more complete or contented form of living. For the Rapa Nui, or inhabitants of Easter Island; however, progress sounded so blissful that they advanced to the point of oblivion. Consequently, the upbringing of their success was the undoing of their very existence. Prior to any settlement, Easter Island was teeming with an abundance of trees, water, and fertile soil (Wright 121). Unfortunately, this period of vivaciousness ceased to carry on once the island’s inhabitants began to carelessly deplete its natural resources. Ronald Wright’s “Fools’ Paradise” suggests that the destruction of Easter Island substantiates an important lesson for today’s societies. He fears that modern society might meet the same fate because they currently allow pollution and deforestation today, knowing that these will eventually destroy their environment as well. Furthermore, civilizations are not always destroyed by natural disasters, but by the ones living within it. Although society currently allows the destruction of their natural resources, it can not be compared to the situation of the Rapa Nui people. One reason is that the entire world is not an island, and it should not be …show more content…
Easter Island had far fewer resources than an entire continent would have had. Had the Rapa Nui people found themselves in a situation where they were not surrounded by water and had access to more resources, they would not have had to resort to the “burning [of] villages, gory battles, and [cannibalistic] feasts” in order to survive (Wright 123). Something as simple as the size of the area where this took place had detrimental results on the outcome and success of their civilization. This being said, it is safe to assume that these people would have had a better chance of surviving if they were on a bigger portion of land, rather than an