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Unit 10: The Right to Arms by Edward Abbey

4. Abbey’s autobiographical sketch is presented in Notes

(a) The Fool’s Progress (b) Hayduke Lives
(c) The Monkey Wrench Gang (d) none of these

10.3 Summary

• Abbey’s literary influences included Aldo Leopold, Henry David Thoreau, Gary Snyder,
Peter Kropotkin, and A.B. Guthrie, Jr..[38][39] Although often compared to authors like
Thoreau or Aldo Leopold, Abbey did not wish to be known as a nature writer, saying
that he didn’t understand “why so many want to read about the world out-of-doors,
when it’s more interesting simply to go for a walk into the heart of it.” The theme that
most interested Abbey was that of the struggle for personal liberty against the totalitarian
techno-industrial state, with wilderness being the backdrop in which this struggle took
place.
• Regarding his writing style, Abbey states: “I write in a deliberately provocative and
outrageous manner because I like to startle people. I hope to wake up people. I have
no desire to simply soothe or please. I would rather risk making people angry than
putting them to sleep. And I try to write in a style that’s entertaining as well as
provocative. It’s hard for me to stay serious for more than half a page at a time.” Abbey
felt that it was the duty of all authors to “speak the truth—especially unpopular truth.
Especially truth that offends the powerful, the rich, the well-established, the traditional,
the mythic”.
• Abbey’s abrasiveness, opposition to anthropocentrism, and outspoken writings made
him the object of much controversy. Agrarian author Wendell Berry claimed that Abbey
was regularly criticized by mainstream environmental groups because Abbey often
advocated controversial positions that were very different from those which environmentalists
were commonly expected to hold.
• It is often stated that Abbey’s works played a significant role in precipitating the
creation of Earth First! The Monkey wrench Gang inspired environmentalists frustrated
with mainstream environmentalist groups and what they saw as unacceptable compromises.
Earth First! was formed as a result in 1980, advocating eco-sabotage or “monkey wrenching.”
Although Abbey never officially joined the group, he became associated with many of
its members, and occasionally wrote for the organization.

10.4 Keywords

Allegory : A symbolic story disguised to represent meanings other than those indicated
on the surface. The characters in an allegory often have no individual
personality, but are embodiments of moral qualities and other abstractions.
The allegory is closely related to the parable, fable, and metaphor,
differing from them largely in intricacy and length. A great variety of
literary forms have been used for allegories. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s
Progress, a prose narrative, is an allegory of man’s spiritual salvation.
Allusion : An allusion is a reference to a person, place, event, or thing that bears
an association to the topic of a discourse. This association expands the
discourse by drawing in ideas that illustrate the topic, provide a comparison
or contrast, suggest consequences, evoke an image, or otherwise enlarge

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