William Cronon’s The Trouble with Wilderness Article Analysis (Essay Example)

Wilderness can be defined as an organic environment that has not been largely changed by humans. In William Cronon’s essay “The Trouble with Wilderness'', he speaks about the issues with the concept of wilderness due to the separation of nature and humans. Some of the issues Cronon brings up are humans do not care about nature and they are too contradicting with their statements. William Cronon is an environmental historian who studies the history of the American West to try to figure out the past regarding human interactions with the natural world. Cronon was president of the American Historical Association in 2012 and he currently does research on history, geography, and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Cronon’s thesis for this paper is that the concept of wilderness is not what it seems because wilderness does the exact opposite of its purpose and humans have no regard for the wilderness in order to get the audience to realize they are a part of the problem. 

Cronon’s first argument is that wilderness does the exact opposite of its purpose. He was talking about how wilderness is natural with freedom and authenticity. On page 11, Cronon claims that wilderness actually represents the false hope of escaping responsibility and thinking that we can wipe our past away. The argument is saying that humans feel they can act however they want and it will be okay because our past can be wiped clean. This supports Cronon’s thesis because this is the opposite of naturalness and authenticity; this is modifying something or wiping the slate clean. An example of this is stealing from a store and then going on a nature retreat and thinking it was okay to do that because you went on a nature retreat. Furthermore, an analogy of this is the faceless effect. This is when someone commits a crime wearing a mask or at night to try to avoid the fact they are committing a crime. In conclusion, Cronon is arguing that the wilderness does the exact opposite of its purpose. 

Cronon’s second argument is that humans have consistently disregarded the wilderness. Cronon was talking about the Endangered Species Act which is an act that protects endangered species from extinction. On page 12, he states “The terms of the Endangered Species Act in the United States have often meant that those hoping to defend pristine wilderness have had to rely on a single endangered species like the spotted owl to gain legal standing for their case,” (Cronon). This quote is stating that in order to achieve protection of an endangered animal, the person fighting to protect the animal needs a legal standing for their case. This is supporting Cronon’s argument because it illustrates that humans do not care for the wilderness if they need legal standing to protect endangered species. Another example of humans not caring about the wilderness is pollution and littering. More specifically, turtles are getting plastic can rings stuck around their necks which is suffocating them to death. This supports Cronon’s argument because if humans cared about the wilderness, they would care about the animals and not hurt them or endanger them. In summation, the second argument that Cronon makes is that humans take no account of the wilderness. 

To conclude, the two arguments that Cronon makes are that wilderness does the exact opposite of its purpose and humans disregard the wilderness. I agree with Cronon that the concept of wildness is problematic because it makes humans think that they are better than they actually are. Additional support for Cronon’s thesis is that humans have responsibilities in the wilderness such as humans finding their own food. However, this is problematic because humans are hurting the animals by hunting them in the wilderness. In summation, Cronon’s thesis includes wilderness doing the opposite of its purpose, and humans ignore taking care of the wilderness.