of Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry's readings were quite interesting to me, being as he is a native from Kentucky, such as myself, and clearly expresses an avid respect and understanding to nature.  I can relate to these values of respect as well, being as I am an eagle scout and have enjoyed exploring nature my entire life.  Berry personifies the values of nature in his work A Native Hill.  All of his descriptions of his home town and the sights around it come across as quite poetic, which conveys a deep meaning of the environment to him.  A moment in the essay that comes to mind is the part when Berry describes himself learning how to hunt as a boy.  He was taught by a negro who worked in his area, and learned the art with great precision and patience.  Berry became a natural at the sport, but soon had to question what he was doing.  He did not feel comfortable killing creatures he did not intend to eat.  This was simply disruptive to the environment, so he decided to cease hunting.

The way Berry describes community is interesting.  He describes home as a place where one is born and raised, and like it or not, they can not change that place.  They grow up learning their surroundings, and the way the people there live and interact with one another.  When Berry decided to leave home and travel to new areas such as Europe and New York, it was then that he began to make realizations as to what home really was.  In these new areas, he would observe the evils of society with a sort of curiosity about them, because after all, he was only going to stay temporarily.  But in one's own home community, they are responsible for all of the evils that occur, and they can not escape those.  It is one's own doing to shape their society, and be held accountable for the way the rest of the world views that society.  But away from the possible negative aspects, one can only have a single home.  To return there is sacred, as you understand and connect with the people like the native in which one is.  This sentiment can not be taken away, and the true happiness of returning home should be lived and enjoyed.

In That Distant Land, Berry describes what his grandfather meant to him, and the events that transpired up until his demise.  Much how Berry expressed the importance of his home land in A Native Hill, Berry described the importance of his grandfather in this reading.  Berry describes how his grandfather would always assist him and aid him in anyway possible while he was a child.  Berry returns this helpfulness to his grandfather in anyway possible during his time of ill health.  He would take painstaking care to get anything he needed, to spend the night with him, and allow him to be as comfortable as possible.  Berry expresses the willingness of his grandfather to accept his help, he is not too proud to accept it.  He explains how this embodies a kind of companionship that each member takes an equal part of.  I believe this is a very important aspect of a community.  Everyone involved in a community should take equal part, and contribute whatever it is they can contribute in order for the entire community to thrive as a whole.  If there is even one weak link in a strong metal chain, the chain will break, compromising even the strong links.  For a community to truly prosper, everyone must communicate and express what it is that needs to be accomplished to succeed.

All of these values should be implemented to have the most successful community possible here at UK.  Everyone should take pride in their new community, and convey and express ideas with one another in order to accurately target a common goal.  Apart from this, everyone should individually look for aspects in a community they are most enthusiastic about.  For example, it is clear that Wendell Berry has a true passion for nature.  Berry strides to make sure all of the aspects of nature are preserved in his native home community.  Each one of us should find what it is that we respect in our community, and try hard to retain and preserve that aspect by personal attempts along with help from each other.  What about our community is truly important to you?