Rhetorical Analysis of 'Save The Whales, Screw The Shrimp'

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” (Winston S. Churchill). Humans tend to act ignorant when it comes to the painful truth for they believe that avoiding it is easier rather than accepting it. In this unusual but honest essay, “Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp” Joy Williams satirically emphasizes and explores the despicable behavior of humanity towards nature and the harsh truth they fear that comes along with it. Her emphasis and exploration contemplate the consequences of the insensible actions of humans and the responsibility they must carry in order to impart the message of accepting the truth and changing their ways before it’s too late.

As a way to fully engage the readers to listen and understand her message, Williams offers an imaginary conversation between herself and the readers. The conversation is about the truth regarding the actions of humans and how they contribute to the destruction or preservation of nature. She shifts the attention away from her and addresses whomever she is talking to as “you.” Immediately, she starts off by blatantly pointing out the selfish “want and want and want” attitude one has on nature. Williams then proceeds to target the unspoken truth about the thoughts and emotions felt by asking, “Do you feel that?” about nature in general down to the hidden smallest detail photographs of animals and sceneries of nature held. It’s a way of defining the truth humans are afraid of admitting and facing. She outlines sentences that would affect readers emotionally just like the one when it comes to loving something: “it had better watch out because you have a tendency to love it to death”. Williams challenges the reader’s thoughts and emotions by presenting the comparison of guilt and regret wherein “guilt is uncool” and “regret is a possibility”. Prudently, she cautions the readers that both guilt and regret are just some of the things humans avoid because they come with responsibility, but the difference is that the former weighs less than the latter.

Williams considers sarcasm as a powerful tool in sending out the message about people being the cause of their own harm and raising awareness about some organizations that preserves nature, a topic that some are afraid to talk about. She mentioned a few organizations and people who seem to know more about nature than most ordinary people. Whenever she would mention them, she would first state their claims or what their project is about and then adds in a few words or comments that would either support or contradict it. The topic about the EPA’s campaign to ban dinoseb was one of them. The statement, “You seem to like dinoseb. It’s been a popular weed killer even though it has been directly linked to birth defects. You must hate weeds a lot” indirectly offers what Williams is trying to communicate to the readers, that people cause harm to themselves and to their future children. Another display of sarcasm with a hint of truth by Williams was when she stated, “sometimes even the stewards get mixed up”. This discusses the roles stewards or managers have when it comes to pleasing people and catering to their desires. Sometimes, humans do not accept the fact that these organizations are committing a mistake that can damage nature even more.

Williams evaluates detailed description of a human’s apathetic behavior and moronic reliance along with their consequences through short but powerful sentences. One example would be when she mentioned, “And the word environment. Such a bloodless word. A flat-footed word with a shrunken heart”. Through this, Williams portrays the entirety of the environment as something that lacks substance and is considered dull or listless. Williams highlights that environment has become nothing but a source of resources for humans. Another example would be when Williams questions humans’ reliance on useless things: “the tiny master knows what you like”. Her description of a blueprint as a tiny master was an implication that humans depend on material things provided by “managers” rather than depending on their own self in being better and changing before it was too late.

In the essay, Williams explores the negligence, betrayal, dominance and the ignorance of humans and connects these behaviors and traits to the exploitation of nature. Williams hints the readers about the way people are belittling nature’s importance and worth by describing it as “a world of appearances, a mere source of materials” which means that the real essence of nature is no longer being considered and that it only exists because humans need something from it and when they are done taking advantage of it, they would abandon it and look for another one. The negligence and betrayal of humans towards nature were strongly implied through William’s words, “you’ve been editing it; now you’re in the process of deleting it”. Her implication of human’s need of dominance was also emphasized when she stated that something will only exist if “you have the graciousness to allow it to” convincing the readers that as if humans should be treated as something that is greater than nature itself. Another human trait is ignorance. By introducing a situation wherein, a stranger is the driver with you and your friends as the passengers and a deer suddenly coming out of nowhere, Williams points out the similarity between the stranger not planning to stop at all and the instance that whenever humans find themselves in a situation where something has gotten out of their control, there’s a feeling of “whatever it is will get out of the way”. And yet somehow, even if there’s that eerie feeling of “something is wrong and maybe you feel a little sick” it was okay to keep moving forward. That these traits are acceptable no matter the consequences just because you are a human being.

Through the different and effective techniques used to convey her call of awareness, discipline, and authenticity towards the human’s treatment of nature, Williams warns the readers about the harsh and sad truth of what nature has become due to the misuse. That no matter how one tries to run away from the painful and unspoken truth, it will always haunt them wherever they go. That people are the reason of the destruction of one of the most precious things in the world called as nature. And that one cannot find fulfillment and happiness in something that has been damaged. Williams proceeds in conveying to the readers the lingering thought of even if there is constant advancement in science and technology, it won’t matter because if one does not stand up, admit his mistakes, own up to them, and change his ways, the destruction of a magnificent blessing will continue to happen and then it will be too late to do anything.