The Grapes of Wrath

After reading an excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, I finally saw the connection between man and nature. In the beginning of time , we did everything by hand, especially farming. Using our hands to plant the crops and take care of the land gave us as humans a purpose. In the excerpt, it mentions a horse. When a horse goes back into the barn, there is still life and "vitality" left. Leaving warmth. But, "when the motor of a tractor stops, it is as dead as the ore it came from." This shows the difference between life and nature, and industry and electronics. When we started to advance in technology, doing work by hand became less and less common. We began to lose touch with our roots.
    The Grapes of Wrath  proved how technology changed how people did their work, and the more technology we had, the worse our relationship with nature became. "Carbon is not man, nor salt nor water nor calcium." Man is not one of those elements, he is all of them combined. Man is much more than a machine, and doing hard labor and connecting to the earth with our bodies is what is going to save our planet. Using tractors and crop machines are only going to lessen our bond with the outside world. Connecting to our roots and hand planting our crops will not only make us spiritually closer to the earth, but also physically. Overall the excerpt made me realize that our earth is fragile, and in order for it to stay healthy and alive for another billion or so years, it has to be better taken care of.