Kristof vs. Bambi
Kristof vs. Bambi
The purpose of “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle” by Nicholas D. Kristof is to inform the reader that deer are causing death and destruction all across America and to persuade the reader to believe the only way to end this is to hunt deer. Kristof begins the essay by grabbing our attention proving deer are over populated, destroying the ecosystem, and killing Americans in car crashes every year. He then leads us to his thesis “Let’s bring back hunting.” Kristof notes that these days many people view hunting as cruel and brutal and are opting for other methods for deer control now due to their sympathy for deer. He believes methods such as birth control are a waste of time and money and if something does not change soon it is only going to get worse. Kristof also proves in his essay that there has been a significant decline of hunting stating, “For every hundred hunters who die or stop hunting, only sixty-nine hunters take their place” (pg.183). He wants us to know while you can be sympathetic to the deer we have an environmental imbalance, a serious problem and the only way to solve it is to put feelings aside and hunt. Kristof then offers us another way to look at hunting. That it is environmentally friendly. He even goes on to say, “It connects people with the outdoors and creates a broader constituency for wilderness prevention” and makes sure to note “At a time when America is goggled away with logging, mining, or oil drilling” (pg. 183), which touches the hearts of environmentalists. Kristof gives us two options in this essay: sit back and feel sorry for the deer that may kill you and your planet, or accept that hunting is normal and instinctive and to pick up your rifle and restore environmental balance. The situation prompting Kristof to write this article was the over population of deer that is continuing to grow. I think this essay was wrote to inform readers of the over population of deer and the destruction they are
The purpose of “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle” by Nicholas D. Kristof is to inform the reader that deer are causing death and destruction all across America and to persuade the reader to believe the only way to end this is to hunt deer. Kristof begins the essay by grabbing our attention proving deer are over populated, destroying the ecosystem, and killing Americans in car crashes every year. He then leads us to his thesis “Let’s bring back hunting.” Kristof notes that these days many people view hunting as cruel and brutal and are opting for other methods for deer control now due to their sympathy for deer. He believes methods such as birth control are a waste of time and money and if something does not change soon it is only going to get worse. Kristof also proves in his essay that there has been a significant decline of hunting stating, “For every hundred hunters who die or stop hunting, only sixty-nine hunters take their place” (pg.183). He wants us to know while you can be sympathetic to the deer we have an environmental imbalance, a serious problem and the only way to solve it is to put feelings aside and hunt. Kristof then offers us another way to look at hunting. That it is environmentally friendly. He even goes on to say, “It connects people with the outdoors and creates a broader constituency for wilderness prevention” and makes sure to note “At a time when America is goggled away with logging, mining, or oil drilling” (pg. 183), which touches the hearts of environmentalists. Kristof gives us two options in this essay: sit back and feel sorry for the deer that may kill you and your planet, or accept that hunting is normal and instinctive and to pick up your rifle and restore environmental balance. The situation prompting Kristof to write this article was the over population of deer that is continuing to grow. I think this essay was wrote to inform readers of the over population of deer and the destruction they are
Cited: Kristof, Nicholas D. “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle.” New York Times 4 Dec.2005. Rpt. in Current issues and enduring questions. Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau. 8th ed.. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2008. 183-184