The Botany Of Desire By Michael Pollan

A weak and deprived plant lingers on the fine line between life and death. The menacing trees of the forest have stolen all the resources that allow its survival. The plant’s roots were pushed to the top of the soil, causing it to lose access to the hidden resources deep within the soil. Other plants pushed the plant’s fragile roots away from sustenance, engendering the plant’s withering structure. Once, the plant was a strong flower, thriving within the forest, but now it is a ghastly representation of its former glory. The plant was abandoned by the rest of its species, and forced to live in agony for the rest of its life. Society shuns those it deems sinful. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne compels the reader to understand

Has there ever been a place where you just felt like you belonged? For Mary, the secret garden was that place. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett has the theme of belonging. This essay will be covering how Mary, Colin, Mrs. Medlock, and Lord Craven all applied to the theme in their own way whether it be for better or for worse. Also, what scenes and symbols were useful and played an important role to the theme of belonging.

The theme found throughout the entirety of the poem “Identity” by Julio Polanco is displayed to be: freedom through individuality. ‘Identity” is a poem that uses extended metaphors and imagery to express its theme. In “Identity” the use of the extended metaphor portraying people as plants shows how although flowers are always “watered,fed,guarded,[and]admired,” they will always be “harnessed to a pot of dirt” (Polanco 1). The quotations from the poem depict the flowers as enchanting specimens however it also shows that they are also chained down to a pot of dirt.

Pauline’s personification of the plants only continues this idea of confusion and abandonment. Her prayer to the Catholic God is almost ironic; Pauline is begging her God to help her remember the practices that she thinks sacrilegious.

Lena is arguably the most determined character in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. She works tirelessly to support her family’s dreams, and refuses to leave anyone behind. Not even a feeble dying houseplant. Her hopes for the future of her family illustrate the classic idea of “the American Dream”, indicating that anyone can achieve success if they work hard enough. Lena’s withering plant represents her will to survive, the dreams she has for her children, and her loyalty to the ones she loves. While Lena hasn’t had an easy life, she refuses to give up, just like the plant that continues to grow without proper nutrients and sunlight.

Every garden has their own purposes that make gardeners devote a great amount of time to take care of them. Gardeners are coming up with their own unique ways of taking care of their gardens, especially when they make profits out of it. In his book, The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan claims the best gardeners of his generation have devoted themselves to growing cannabis, popularly known as marijuana. Intrigued with Pollan’s argument, I completely agree with him. Marijuana growers are the best gardeners because they perfected the plant in growing them indoors, they make good business out of it, and the plant itself fills the need of humans for transcendent altered states of consciousness.

In “All Flesh Is Grass,” Michael Pollan investigates the alternative models of producing food. To study the agricultural food chain, Pollan begins his journey in chapter 8 at Joel Salatin’s Polyface farm in Virginia, helping to make hay. Polyface farm is home to a wide variety of crops and livestock: chicken, beef, turkeys, eggs, rabbits, pigs, tomatoes, sweet corn and berries. Salatin calls himself “a grass farmer.” He takes into a deeper analysis on “organic” food, one of the most rapidly expanding product lines in America’s supermarket. There Michael gets to see the symbiotic relationship between animals and grass in action. Michael Pollan talks about an alternative method of producing food that is being overshadowed by the big, industrial system. Salatin's 100 acre Farm produces 25,000 pounds of beef, 50,000 pounds of pork, 30,000 dozen eggs, etc.

The incredible Michael Pollan is the accredited author for the high-rated novel, “The Botany of Desire: A Plants-Eye View of the World”. Michael Pollan was born on February 06, 1955 into a Jewish family in Long Island, New York with 3 other siblings and his father Stephen M. Pollan and mother Corky Pollan. Michael Pollan lived a normal childhood and attended Bennington College and received a Bachelor’s of the Arts (B.A) in Literature of 1977 and went on to graduate school at Columbia University, graduating with a Master of the Arts (M.A) in 1981. Pollan has always been intrigued by the art of writing after he witnessed his father, an author of over 20 books, as a child and immediately knew he would begin writing after receiving both

In the book, Botany of desire, chapter 2, Michael Pollan describes the relationship between humans and tulips in 17th century. At the beginning of the chapter, Michael introduces the tulips and then, he start talking about the big event happened in Dutch. It is the most typical case of bubble economy, and it made a lot of impact.

“America’s Father of Modern Horticulture,” also known as Liberty Hyde Bailey, a jack of all trades and a significantly influential botanist within the horticulture community, lives on in spirit even today (Gasser 2014). His nickname says it all, from his dedication in studying cultivated plants, to his many published volumes and papers about his findings, his research continues to make an impact on horticulture. Bailey began building his background with cultivated plants as a young child on a fruit orchard in South Haven, Michigan (Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum 2017). These early years shaped his views and desires for later dates to come, specifically regarding his college education and research that followed. Although, the vast majority of people did not find the topics within horticulture interesting or something of importance to investigate, Bailey took the world by surprise and found himself with a completely incongruous mindset.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen uses examples of four plants including the apple ,tulip, marijuana, and the potato, to describe evolution and how mankind works to help plants reproduce. We are a slave to things of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. These four things are described by the different plant chapters in the book. We as people are driven to these kind of things because of the product we get, we subconsciously are working to make these plants more fit and therefore helping in their reproduction and evolution. With each plant chapter Pollen goes into depth about its contribution to the world and history behind the plant within human evolution. By using the examples he provides in the book helps demonstrate the ideas of how these plants contribute to the human body systems, evolution and ecology. To further explain these topics I chose to explore the apple, tulip and cannabis plants.

“To freely bloom - That is my definition of success.” This is how Gerry Spence, a semi-retired American trial lawyer, views the meaning of the word bloom. Spence, also never losing a criminal case as a defense attorney and prosecutor since 2014, is a trustworthy source. He believes that to be successful in life is for one to bloom freely and truly. For one to glow confidently and without hesitation. To not be afraid to show their true self to themselves and to others. Bloom is a radiant, happy, and youthful glow in a person’s complexion.

The word choice the main character employs to describe the plants is particularly notable, as it implies a disobedient appearance in a garden that expects conformity in its essence. This oddly-described foliage becomes the inanimate representation of the main character herself, who is also trying to rebel against a world passionate in its attempts to suppress and demean. The plants become “riotous” and “gnarly” to actively resist attempts to be subordinated by the garden, and the main character’s observation of this conveys her desire to revolt, even though she cannot express her displeasure in a communicable language. The main character’s envy of the plants makes this symbol even more powerful, as the greenery represents where she seeks to be: in a position where she can fight her oppressors by being openly nonconformist. Unfortunately for the main character, her rebellious behavior haves to be tucked away in the subconscious and in her own thoughts, as she is unable to voice legitimate concerns in a patriarchal

There are two notable themes in the short story “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck: gender inequality and dissatisfaction. The point of view, characterization, and figurative language in the story help make these themes clear.

For Taylor, the main argument is that the all living beings including plants have “the good of a being.” All living beings have right to promote its welfare, and they have intrinsic value. Our job as human beings is to respect well-being of other species in the Earth.