Desert Solitaire Themes

In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey’s politically charged memoir of a summer largely spent alone as a park ranger at Arches National Monument, Abbey emphasizes the importance of the wilderness on several levels. In nearly every scene, Abbey describes his own love of nature and the way it empowers him, highlighting how the wilderness is important to him on a personal level. As Abbey comes to understand the personal rewards of desert seclusion, he…

In Desert Solitaire, a memoir of Edward Abbey’s summer spent in the Utah’s desert, Abbey shows a real contempt for human institutions—government, industry, technology, and so on. Yet, in describing nature, he frequently uses religious language, especially relating to Christianity. However, he doesn’t mean to suggest that he himself is traditionally religious—far from it, in fact. Instead, Abbey advocates for a kind of spirituality grounded in nature, arguing that God can be found…

Many nature memoirs—especially of the 1960s activism era—show a deep affection for animals. This is no different in Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey’s memoir of a summer spent in Utah’s deserts. As he mediates on Moab’s many creatures, Abbey condemns humans for arrogantly thinking they’re at the top of the food chain. But Abbey goes one step further, illustrating his belief that humans are not only kin to animals—they are, in fact, equal in…