Nature, New Materialism, and Today's World

        In dystopian worlds, the nature depicted is typically pretty grim, dismal, and/or bleak. Nature includes both the natural world (think forests, rivers, greenery) and the non-natural world (think cities, man-made settings). The characters in these dystopian environments are typically heroic by design and are able to survive in nature, either the natural world or the man-made world. Often both. According to new materialism, a theory developed by Jane Bennett and described in Vibrant Matter, these dystopian natures have a thing-power and agency all their own.

Vibrant Matter by Jane Bennett.

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New materialism states that since everything, both organic and non organic, is made of the same substances, there should be no vertical hierarchy claiming that there is "human uniqueness in the eyes of God" (Bennett, 2010, 10). Everything, organic and non organic, has thing-power, and thus everything has independence and value simply by existing. According to Bennett, everything is valuable because everything can have an effect on anything else. For example, she describes the effect that certain parts of trash have on not only the surrounding trash, but on her ability to recognize, perceive, and process it (Bennett, 2010). Therefore, environments everywhere impact people all the time, regardless of man's supposed "reign" over nature, either natural or mechanized.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
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As a result, the nature described in dystopian environments impacts the characters beyond what the characters do in/to the environment(s). Typically, we think that people affect their environments, but rarely do we consider that environments have an equal impacts on the people in them. For example, in the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the environment is bleak, ashy, and gray. The man and the boy rest and find shelter in the woods, and they leave their mark on this environment by building fires and manipulating it for their benefit. However, the environment impacts these characters an equal amount. The father and son are forced to continue their travel due to the snow that does not cease to fall for a while. If the snow wasn't falling, the pair would not be forced to travel so far, so fast, so determinedly. Both nature and man are affecting each other with complete agency. 



If both man and nature impact each other so heavily, then it becomes impossible to discuss dystopian societies and environments without also discussing the setting and the nature involved. Nature becomes the second protagonist, without ever uttering a single line. According to new materialism, nature has just as much agency as the human protagonists of the story. If we consider nature from this lens, then nature goes from a backseat, from something that is merely used by characters, to being important in its own right because nature actually impacts not only the characters, but the plot and book as a whole as a result.

Character vs Nature. https://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/kristy-littlehale/character-vs-nature.png

The beauty of literature is that everything written in books is reflective, at least in part, of some aspect of the real world, or of current events in the real world. In the real, we are face-to-face with nature every single day, both natural and unnatural. We have constructed cities in and around the natural life, and are constantly affected. We are impacted by the heat of the sun which causes us to dress differently than we would in the winter. The rain causes us to remain indoors. Natural disasters leave us breathless and helpless, even when we can anticipate them. Our buildings and technology release dangerous chemicals into the air and impact our ability to see the stars. Nature constantly impacts us beyond our control and even beyond our ken. By analyzing the role of nature in literature, specifically dystopian literature, we are able to truly understand the uniqueness of nature and understand, to some extent, the agency that it has. If we understand nature from a new materialist perspective, then perhaps we would be better equipped to thrive in our world. Humans are infinitely important, and so is nature. All of the big natural events, the small greenery, and the man-made societies impact humans on a daily basis and ought to be taken seriously as a major protagonist in life. 

The Role of Nature
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References

Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.

McCarthy, C. (2006). The Road. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.