The Individual Vs. Change in Bartolome De Las Casas' The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies

Bartolomé De Las Casas' The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies describes many horrific actions carried out by Spanish Christians against Indians living on the island of Hispaniola in the mid-16^th Century. The reported conduct of these Christians struck me as highly abnormal and extremely uncharacteristic of those who follow the Christian faith. In his account, De Las Casas explains how Christian Spaniards rob, beat, thieve, and murder Indian men, women, and children simply because the Indians do not have enough spare food to give in order to satisfy the enormous appetites of the Christians. And when the Indians begin hiding food from the Christians in hopes of being able to save enough to feed themselves and their families, the Christians turn violent and behave "with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer" (De Las Casas, 39). As if thievery and rape aren't enough, the Christians begin murdering Indians indiscriminately, sparing "neither the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed...cutting them to pieces as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house" (39). De Las Casas even describes a scene in which Christians are tossing infant babies into the river to drown, screaming, "Boil there, you offspring of the devil!" (39).

Men who have read and claim to live by the word of God should never think of committing such injustices against any living beings, and a captain not only allowing but joining his countrymen in raping and slaughtering humans is an unimaginable failure of order and decency. When these Christians came home and looked their wives in the eye, did they see the faces of all the women and children they had raped and murdered?-or just a pretty smile?

These men robbed, raped, and murdered Indians because they genuinely believed that their actions were not against God's wishes. It is also possible that the Christians took it a step further and felt as if they were "cleansing" the world of heathen devils and doing God's work. These Spaniards probably did not have the benefit of much (if any) formal education, and probably did not see a problem with killing these "brown-skinned beings" who were seen as "savages" by most contemporary Europeans. The Spaniards probably felt no more remorse in murdering the Indians than they would in slaughtering a herd of cows. We know that during the time the Christian Spaniards were slaughtering their Indian counterparts, they did not show an ounce of remorse for their actions; whether or not they felt remorseful during or after the attack, only God can say. But, judging by the Christians' blood-thirsty conduct on that frightful day, they believed that their murderous actions were completely and unreservedly justified in the eyes of God and had no reason to ever feel remorseful.

In Henry David Thoreau's Walden, however, finds man against a different sort of change: industry. In chapter four of Walden, the locomotive train symbolizes urban disruption of man's ability to lead a fully natural lifestyle as well as the dependence industry creates in the lives of urban citizens. Thoreau undertakes his two-year journey into self-reliance near Walden Pond in order to experience a natural, more solitary life unaffected by industry and progress, but finds it difficult to completely escape the reaches of urban industry. Thoreau describes the audible intrusion of the train's loud, piercing whistle which "penetrates my woods summer and winter, sounding like the scream of a hawk sailing over some farmer's yard" (1868). The whistle cuts sharply through nature's virgin air, burdening man and animal alike with a shrill reminder of the vulgarity of industry. Thoreau thinks back to his childhood, a time when one "couldn't even hear the whistle" but doubts "if there is such a place in Massachusetts now" (1868). The train also intrudes visibly, leaving as it passes clouds of smoke, a train of smoke so great that it "conceals the sun for a minute and casts my distant field into the shade" (1869). The train tracks lead the locomotive through various secluded areas, through "unfrequented woods" where its presence disrupts the wildlife, frightening "the owl and fox" (1869). Man's progress has intruded upon nature audibly as well as visibly and has greatly inhibited man's ability to experience and enjoy the more natural, earthly pleasures of life. The train in Walden proves that leading a simple life devoid of business and commercial complications-Thoreau's aim in experimenting with life outside urban centers-proves nearly impossible due to the wide, invasive expansion of human industry. Even the most isolated, unfrequented areas in the country fall victim to industrial intrusion; man has tragically destroyed his own ability to live a simpler, more natural life. As man progresses in industry, Thoreau says, he regresses in spirituality.

The train also symbolizes a more devastating consequence of the growth of industry on human life: dependence upon industry. People depend on the train for travel; "the weary and heavy laden that dwell" within the trains rely on the railroad to convey them "from Boston to the country" (1868). And citizens riding trains are forced to regulate their lives according to the train's schedule, departing not when their natural impulses impel them but when the rigid schedule of commerce demands, because "at a certain hour and minute these bolts will be shot toward particular points of the compass" (1870). The train's schedule, unlike the horse or carriage, is non-negotiable, forcing humans to depend on its unyielding schedule instead of their own-like robots. The trains are known for being extremely prompt and punctual, so much so that "farmers set their clocks by them" (1869). Railroad time becomes universally accepted as the standard means of keeping time, "and thus one well conducted institution regulates a whole country" (1869). The entire nation, Thoreau describes, comes to depend entirely on the railroad schedules to make time. Urban citizens become dependent upon trains and industry to the point that without the railroad, urban society would not have sufficient food provisions; "Here come your groceries, country; your rations, countrymen!" (1868). And with urban centers relying so heavily on industry and citizens of the country, "With such huge and lumbering civility the country hands a chair to the city" (1868). Thoreau journeys to the woods to become self-reliant, providing for himself with raw materials and his own two hands and becomes a more fulfilled, independent man for his efforts. Urban citizens, however, rely heavily on the train's rigid schedule and food shipments and are never forced to connect spiritually with nature or themselves; instead, they opt for their crutch-their "chair"-to keep them from having to lead a life in appreciation of nature.

Works Cited

De Las Casas, Bartolome. "From The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6^th ed. Ed.

Nina Baym. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. 5 vols. 39-40.

Thoreau, Henry David. "Walden." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 6^th ed. Ed. Nina Baym. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. 5 vols.

1807-1982.