The book and film "A River Runs Through It," which were respectively written by Norman Maclean and produced by Robert Redford, deal with a variety of subjects, including faith, family, and the environment. The authors of the text and the film demonstrate how societal values for nature are necessary for safeguarding our ecosystem from exploitation and pollution. The writer and the director look at a number of topics that demonstrate how the characters were able to protect their surroundings. (Redford). The narration of the movie and the novel both makes use of a number of literary techniques. First, it is imperative to understand the movie by Robert Redford relies on the material written by Norman Maclean. The text takes an autobiography format because Norman wrote this book as an elegy to his brother Paul. The film adopts the concept of autobiography through the incorporation of a voiceover. The voiceover enables the story in the film to be told from Norman Maclean perspective. In both the movie and the text, the setting of the story is in the early 20th century in Montana (Maclean 12). However, it can address some of the environmental issues that the world is currently facing.
Environmental issues have increased extensively in the recent years. The growth in environmental problems results from the change in the society's value for nature. The text and the film address several environmental issues. The first issue that is addressed is the issue of depletion of natural resources. An important theme of the book is nature. From the book and the movie, the Maclean brothers were taught the importance of nature by their father. Their father who was a preacher explained to them that God was the creator of the world and that God was present in every aspect of nature (Gottlieb 52). As a result, the boys considered landscape and Montana hills the refuge for their souls where they would go with their father to get purified. They believed that by investing their time in the beautiful nature around them, they were becoming closer to God. Therefore, religion and nature were unified which helped in the preservation of the environment.
However, in the current world, the majority of people are not influenced by religion. According to Bullard (para 12), the total population of the United States with 46 percent being males and 66 percent being whites. Out of these 68 percent, atheists are men, and 78 percent of them are white. The numbers show a growing population of non-religion individuals in the world. These people do not believe in God and his creations. As a result, they tend to disobey the natural flow of life as created by God. In the text, Norman and Paul learned to respect nature because of their family religious beliefs (Maclean 13). They would observe the natural way of life which made them protect the environment by being involved in a safe use of the natural resources. For instance, when they went fishing they conducted fly fishing which does not harm the natural way of life of the fish. Atheists do not care about God, so they do not respect the natural way of life. As a result, they may be involved in harmful environmental practices leading to depletion of natural resources (Redford).
Air pollution is another environmental issue that is facing the current world. The present level of air pollution may take more than a million years to recover. Most of the air pollution in the environment is a result of industrial processes and motor vehicles (Dunlap 22). Heavy metal and oil spill that pollutes soil and water respectively are other forms of pollution that have resulted from the change in the way of life of the people in the world. Unlike in the past, many people currently rely heavily on industrial activities for their day to day activities and motor vehicles for transportation. Currently, over 1 billion motor vehicles are available in the world today which increases the carbon footprint that pollutes the air (Tencer para.3).
Pollution is an environmental issue that results from the change of the way of life of people that can be addressed using the movie and the text “A River Runs Through It.” By analyzing the way of life of characters in the book and the film, we can be able to understand how pollution has increased in the world. Additionally, there are some aspects of the text and the film that show ways in which people in the texts polluted the environment contributing to the current pollution status of the world.
In the book, Norman explains that he boarded the Northern Pacific train when he was going to college meaning that trains were the common means of transportation in the text. As per the text when people were traveling either to or way from Western Montana, they will use the train for their transportation as it was the case with Norman when going to college. Another example of the train being used as a means of transport in the film is when Jessie's brother, Neal Burns came to Montana. The use of the trains reduces the carbon footprint because it eliminated the need for motor vehicles. However, from the text, Norman notes that they would enjoy smoking when they were with their friends. The smokes that resulted from smoking can be argued to have caused pollution of the air (Maclean 32).
From the film, the standard mode of transportation is the train. However, there are several motor vehicles owned by people of the town. For instance, Paul had a motor vehicle which he used to pick Norman up with whenever they went out for drinking. Although there are several motor vehicles in the film, each family in the family tends to have one vehicle, unlike the current situation where a family can have up to 4 vehicles which they use simultaneously. The limitation of the number of automobiles in the film reduces the carbon footprint released in the air. Additionally, evidence of air pollution in the movie seen from the constant smoking that the boys especially Paul indulged themselves (Redford).
In the both the film and the text, the primary means of transport is the trains. However, motor vehicles were available, and their use was to ferry people within Western Montana and families that had them were limited to only 1. The limitation of the number of automobiles was not a law but a way of life of the people. In both the text and the movie, a family is valued as part of the flow of life in Western Montana (Maclean 33). Both the film and the text show several instances of air pollution, however, there is enough natural resources to deal with the problem hence reducing its impact on their environment. Therefore, the Western Montana way of life that Norman and Paul lived by helped in minimizing contamination in the setting compared to the current world way of life which promotes excessive pollution of the environment.
Another environmental issue resulting from the current way of life of people is the loss of biodiversity. Human beings way of life is at the center of loss of biodiversity because of the influence people have on the world’s ecosystem. The loss of biodiversity occurs through alteration and loss of the natural habitats, the introduction of the genetically modified organism in the ecosystem and direct exploitation of species (Dunlap 31).
In the text and the movie, the human beings can co-exist with the ecosystem without creating imbalances hence they were able to prevent against environmental issues. Understanding how the loss of biodiversity occurs is helpful in analyzing how characters in the book and the movie contributed or prevented against these. The Presbyterian faith instilled on Norman and Paul made them realize and appreciate the creations of God. As a result, they would not partake in activities which would alter or cause the loss of the natural habitat.
In the text, Norman father explains to them that nature is created by God and should be respected. The statement means that according to their way of life they were not supposed to interfere with the natural way of life and everything should remain the way God created it. The understanding that the works of creation were meant to be done by God only prevented them from adding new species to the ecosystem as is the case currently, with the introduction of genetically modified organisms in the natural habitat. Additionally, the only form of fishing practiced in the text was fly-fishing. In fly-fishing the number of fish that a person can catch is limited hence there will not exploitation of fishes in the habitat.
Consequently, from the movie, Norman and Paul are taught the importance of God and his creation hence they grow up appreciating it. The meadow that leads to the River and the Montana hills were there refuge where they would go and get purified of their worries and souls. To them, the natural landscape was as important as the church hence they would never participate in activities that could potentially harm the natural ecosystem. Additionally, the fly-fishing technique that their father taught them was not hazardous to the fish (Redford).
In both of these literary works, the importance of God creation was impacted on the people while they were still young, and they grew up to appreciate. Furthermore, the fly-fishing which was second to religion in the western Montana was taught so that they can preserve the natural habitat of the fish. In fly-fishing, the number of fishes that a person can capture is limited due to the technique that is used compared to the fishing methods used currently. Net fishing and poison spraying catch a large number of fish that leads to exploitation of the species. However, there are some images from the movie that show activities that result in loss of diversity. For instance, there are pictures of logging activities, and Norman says that he wanted to join the plantation company. Logging and deforestation deplete the natural forest which is usually habitats to some organism hence logging leads to loss of natural habitat resulting in loss of diversity. Therefore, although the logging activities interfered with the natural habitat, the way of life of people in Montana promoted the preservation of diversity, unlike the current people lifestyle.
Another environmental issue addressed in the text and the movie is climate change. Climate change is the most impactful environmental issue that people are facing as a result of the changes in their way of life. Several human activities have led to exploitation of the environment resulting in climate change. Human Activities that produce greenhouse gases have led to climate changes such as global warming. As a result of climate changes, the world is experiencing a rise in temperatures of the ocean and earth surface which lead to irregular patterns of the weather such as desertification and flash floods (Dunlap 19). Human emissions are the major contributor to this environmental issue.
The problem of climate change like other environmental issues results from variations in the people way of life. Through understanding and analysis of the text and the movie “A River Runs Through It,” the issue of climate change can be addressed. The characters in the book and the movie did not face the challenge of climate change hence understanding their way of life would help in combating climate change in the current world. Also, so aspects that contributed to climate change from the text can be used to discuss ways of dealing with the issue.
First, in the book “A River Runs Through It,” the author notes that the only major producer of emissions was the Northern Pacific train used for transportation and the logging company. The limitations on equipment producing emissions meant that the ozone layer would not interfere with just like other natural resources available. However, the train was powered using coal which has the highest emission rate of greenhouse gases hence the use of trains in the text contributes to the current climate changes experienced in the present day.
The logging company, motor vehicles, and train are the only producers of smoke containing greenhouse gases in the movie. When Norman leaves for college, there is a huge cloud of emission is left in the air. The emissions left by the train can be argued to have contributed to the current level of greenhouse gases. Consequently, Paul was on many occasions smoking which also contributed to the emission produced. However, the emission level produced is not as high as the current level because the way of life of the people such a forestation reduce the gases in the air hence climate change did not occur (Redford).
In both the text and the movie, there is a situation that arguably contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases that can lead to climate change. The level of greenhouse production in both the text and the film is limited to mainly the means of transportation hence it can be argued that the produced gases in the environment could not lead to the present level of climate change. Consequently, in both the film and the text, the people maintained the natural forestation which helped in controlling emissions produced (Redford). However, in the modern world, there are several means of greenhouse gas emission with no means of controlling the emission. Therefore, although in both the text and the film produced some emissions in the environment, the environment was well equipped to manage the emission as compared to the present environment that has depleted natural means to control greenhouse production.
In conclusion, the present way of life is the primary contributor to the environmental issues faced. The main environmental problems faced are depletion of natural resources, pollution, and loss of biodiversity and climate change. The majority of these problems were not present in the text and the movie because of the respect that the people had for the natural flow of life. The movie adapted the characters, plot, and setting of the text hence the notions and arguments supported by the text are available in the film. These similarities between the two literary materials provide enough evidence to support the argument that the current way of life leads to environmental issues. Therefore, by analyzing various aspects of both text and the film, several environmental issues can be managed efficiently.
Works Cited
Bullard, Gabe. "The World's Newest Major Religion: No Religion". National Geographic, 2016. Web. 1 July 2017. Available at:< http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/>
Dunlap, Riley E. American Environmentalism: The US Environmental Movement, 1970-1990. Taylor & Francis, 2014. Print.
Gottlieb, Roger S., ed. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. Psychology Press, 1996. Print.
Maclean, Norman. A River Runs Through It and Other Stories: (Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001. Print.
Redford, Robert. A River Runs Through It. Hollywood, 1992. Film.
Tencer, Daniel. "Number of Cars Worldwide Surpasses 1 Billion; Can The World Handle This Many Wheels?". HuffPost Canada. 2013. Web. 1 July 2017. Available at:< http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/23/car-population_n_934291.html>
