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A jeep full of anonymous engineers with the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads pulls up to Abbey’s trailer one evening. To Abbey’s horror, the engineers describe their assignment to chart out massive, expensive paved roads into Arches National Monument. Abbey reflects that their project, in the 10 years since this incident, has come to pass. Though the men are anonymous and appear only briefly to ask Abbey for water, they introduce Abbey’s most important political argument: that industrial development of the national parks—especially the paving of roads—is a misguided improvement born of human arrogance, political oppression, and capitalist greed. As soon as the men drive off, Abbey retraces their path, pulling up their stakes and trashing them—his first act of environmentalist protest.
The Engineers Quotes in Desert Solitaire
The Desert Solitaire quotes below are all either spoken by The Engineers or refer to The Engineers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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It will be objected that a constantly increasing population makes resistance and conservation a hopeless battle. This is true. Unless a way is found to stabilize the nation’s population, the parks cannot be saved. Or anything else worth a damn. Wilderness preservation, like a hundred other good causes, will be forgotten under the overwhelming pressure of a struggle for mere survival and sanity in a completely urbanized, completely industrialized, ever more crowded environment.
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The Engineers Quotes in Desert Solitaire
The Desert Solitaire quotes below are all either spoken by The Engineers or refer to The Engineers. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Polemic
Quotes
It will be objected that a constantly increasing population makes resistance and conservation a hopeless battle. This is true. Unless a way is found to stabilize the nation’s population, the parks cannot be saved. Or anything else worth a damn. Wilderness preservation, like a hundred other good causes, will be forgotten under the overwhelming pressure of a struggle for mere survival and sanity in a completely urbanized, completely industrialized, ever more crowded environment.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Desert Solitaire quote.
Plus so much more...
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