Humans, as they are today, have existed for a mere 50,000 years, while the Earth is around 4.54 billion years old. Why, then, have humans disregarded the planet they live on and have chosen to send it to ruin by means of pollution, climate change, and mining deep below the surface? Because of mankind’s actions of destruction, the Earth has awakened from a tranquil slumber and sought restitution towards humanity for disturbing its once-peaceful state. In Auscultation, Steven Church is presenting the idea that, unbeknownst to most, Earth’s human inhabitants are what animate the prodigious planet and drive it to take on a life of its own.
By conveying the tales of miners being held prisoner by Earth due to cataclysmic drilling accidents, Church is drawing parallels between humans and …show more content…
In the first anecdote, all attempts to rescue the stranded laborers failed and were eventually abandoned; after the fact, the owner of the mine stated in a press conference that “‘had [he] known that this evil mountain, this alive mountain, would do what it did, [he] never would have sent the miners in there’” (34-35). Humans have caused infinite destruction to the once pristine Earth, and by doing so they have weakened it beyond repair. Here, the Earth is retaliating by beguiling the miners and encasing them beneath its flesh, sealing them off to their terrible fate forever. The premise that Planet Earth is a conscious being can also be seen in Church’s final account, where miners are confined underground during a flood and are forced to retreat to “a small womb of air against the rising flood” (250-251). Whereas in the former
By conveying the tales of miners being held prisoner by Earth due to cataclysmic drilling accidents, Church is drawing parallels between humans and …show more content…
In the first anecdote, all attempts to rescue the stranded laborers failed and were eventually abandoned; after the fact, the owner of the mine stated in a press conference that “‘had [he] known that this evil mountain, this alive mountain, would do what it did, [he] never would have sent the miners in there’” (34-35). Humans have caused infinite destruction to the once pristine Earth, and by doing so they have weakened it beyond repair. Here, the Earth is retaliating by beguiling the miners and encasing them beneath its flesh, sealing them off to their terrible fate forever. The premise that Planet Earth is a conscious being can also be seen in Church’s final account, where miners are confined underground during a flood and are forced to retreat to “a small womb of air against the rising flood” (250-251). Whereas in the former