Silent Spring Euphemism

Imagine walking through an open field scattered with thousands of lifeless birds. This animal genocide was the shocking reality that stunned millions of Americans worldwide. Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and conservationist, released the book Silent Spring in order to address the harmful effects of pesticide usage. Silent Spring pointed out long-term consequences of chemical use that far outweighed the immediate benefits. Although Carson’s controversial book was denounced at first by the chemical companies, it eventually led to the banning of DDT and the birth of environmental regulation agencies. In an excerpt, Carson argues against the dangers of pesticides by including descriptions of the farmers’ war-like actions, shedding light on
Carson claims how there has been a growing trend in the unnecessary application of parathion and how farmers are trying to “control” the concentration of birds. By putting quotes around a euphemism meant to curtail the severity of the killings, Carson actually emphasizes her argument against the farmers. She stresses the delusion in the farmers’ argument, as they are clearly annihilating the birds instead of controlling them. This word choice exemplifies the level of authority the farmers possess and how they are the ones with the ability to manipulate the results in their favor. Carson also depicts the farmers engaging in a “mission of death” against the birds that destroy their crops. The war term “mission” implies a direct and pre arranged attack on a clear target in order to portray the farmers as conducting war against nature. Instead of the proposed intention of using pesticides as a defense against the blackbirds, the farmers resorted to mass annihilation. The selfish and misguided actions of the farmers elucidate their abuse of power against the helpless birds. With no one to stop them, the farmers continued to “[wage] their needless war on blackbirds.” Carson uses the word “wage” to imply how the farmers are executing a goal driven plan to destroy their enemy in quicker but inhumane way. Carson criticizes the
As Carson laments over the loss of the birds to a “universal killer”, she criticizes how the deadly chemical makes no distinctions between its victims. She implies how the existence of the birds annoyed the farmers to such an intense degree that they settled on a pesticide that would essentially wipe out everything in its path. Thousands of innocent birds were attacked at their “favored roosting site”; a location where baby birds are raised. Children are seen as being innocent, helpless, and far too weak to endure pain or fight back. By revealing how some of the birds killed were only babies, Carson instills sympathetic emotions into the audience while triggering the audience’s maternal instinct to protect their child. Carson humanizes the birds whom were a direct target of the pesticides by putting together a “casualty list” that states the number of birds killed. The word “casualty” implies victims of warfare, likening the deaths of the birds to the deaths of humans in war. The unexpected ambush of the birds is deadly and intentionally long lasting. In fact, many of the unfortunate victims were the baby birds killed at their roosting site even before they had the ability to comprehend what was