Nature from near and far

     For this week's topic, the difference between nature and man was questioned. In class, we discussed the distance or barrier that we create between us and them. However, with further research, we're learning more and more about the creatures we share this planet with, and are finding more similarities than differences. However, this is the problem in itself. As we are discovering our similarities, the barrier between us becomes shorter and shorter to the point that there are those that are convinced there is no need for it at all.
     In the Life of Pi, Pi talks about how the tiger's original name, and the owner's name became mixed up. While this is a minor detail, it shows the thinness of the barrier, and it's existance. We give names to animals in a playful manner, but we don't give them last names. This is something that is typically specific to humans, but by switching the names and keeping it, the tiger is no longer a tiger, but Richard Parker. He now has  an identity. And to Pi, he has a soul. This belief is seen in Pi when he tries to feed him meat, and believes that he shares this connection with him. To Pi he sees a soul in his eyes, but his father sees a predator acting only on instinct. His father even says to him that there is no soul in the tiger and that what he sees in Richard Parker's eyes are only a reflection of what he feels. In comparison to the video we watched last week, Pi's father sees things in the same perspective as Herzog, and Pi sees things from a similar perspective as Timothy Treadwell.
      With both instances, we see Emerson's point that there is a dividing line between nature and man, but that the gap must not become too wide. My interpretation of his words is that nature has  a soul, that is beautiful and wonderful, but that it is not something we can comprehend. We have a tendency like most to see things Herzog and Pi's father would. We are kept behind and distant because we do not understand how they think or feel. However, from this distance we cannot appreciate it enough. We do not treat it with the proper respect. We do not protect what we cannot see. From where we stand, we don't see the same grace and beauty of nature that Emerson, Pi, and Treadwell do. The connection that they feel with these animals, the way that they dissociate from their beings and gravitate toward their simplistic lifestyles. We see primitive where they see simplicity. However, Emerson is the only one to note that there is still that divide. That as alluring and mystical nature is, there is no way for us to be nature, only to become at peace with it.