No plague like man.
-- Lark (Summer 1977)

Importance: The author utilizes Lark’s critique of human beings on the natural environment to establish her claim that industrial logging creates catastrophic destruction. While the forest can be affected by blights, wildfires, or droughts, the specific practice of clearcutting, that is only practiced by human beings, ensures that the forests cannot grow back. While forests regrow after burns and can adapt to fight off blights, deforestation is irremediable.

Rich let the daddy longlegs crawl onto his finger. He could be stubborn but there wasn't a mean bone in Rich's body."
-- Narrator (Summer 1977)

Importance: Davidson depicts Rich’s calm and gentle interaction with the spider to evoke the character’s connection with nature, despite his participation in the logging industry. While he works for Sanderson, Rich respects the forest, and the animals and organisms that live there, and does not support deforestation. He is caught between the desire to ethically...