Summary Of Nature Is Cruel By Leonard Pitts

While people can be cruel, one may argue that nature itself can be that much crueler. In Leonard Pitts article “Sometimes, the Earth is Cruel”, he brings to light that nature can be quite malicious and unforgiving, especially where the little country of Haiti is concerned. He says that nature’s cruelty is a fact of life: we mourn our dead, pick up our cities, and move on with life. What else can we do? A theme strong in his article is that of cruelty, and how nature can be far more cruel to us than we could ever be to each other.

Nature destroys lives and cities. While it can be beautiful--the beautiful trees and their ever changing colors, water’s clear, shapeless form, the sky’s myriad of color--it can also be a cruel beauty. The majesty of a massive hurricane barrelling towards your home may be beautiful in it’s own right, but how can one appreciate something so destructive, something that destroys so many lives? The Haitian people have suffered both earthquakes and hurricanes, and while they have been hit repeatedly by Mother Nature’s terrible temper, they pick themselves back up and continue on. Pitts says, “Sometimes, though, you have to wonder if the planet itself is …show more content…
He points out the relationship between the Haitian people and nature as both a blessing and a curse. We all rely on nature for sustenance and a way to survive; we are, in no short term, part of nature itself. However, when Haiti was ruined by a “7.0 magnitude monster”, their relationship with nature on that particular day was not a great one. The “Earth’s skin” is crawling with other natural disasters that we must be constantly watching out for: earthquakes, tropical storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, thunderstorms, flooding, etc, all have a massive impact on everyone’s lives at times. Pitts gives nature a cruel personality, one that he seems to view as a force to be reckoned