I read Brautigan's "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" as a sarcastic approach to his opinions regarding man and the destruction of nature. Throughout "Trout Fishing in America", Brautigan displays his feelings of the ill treatment of nature and our general disregard for its well-being. In Machines of Loving Grace, I think Brautigan sums up his attitude very well.
The poem is divided into three stanzas, each kicked off with the line "I like to think...of a cybernetic". The repeated lines set the stage for a sarcastic, imagined and absurd environment. Brautigan conjures up images of cybernetic forests, "where deer stroll peacefully / past computers" and cybernetic meadows "where mammals an computers / live together in mutually / programming harmony". The literal images are very sarcastic and unrealistic. Beneath this layer, Brautigan is sincerely calling for a world where nature is not destroyed by technology, but rather is lived in harmony with. Brautigan adds a line of urgency, "and the sooner the better!" to each repeated stanza opener. Brautigan's a sense of urgency seems to have been lost, as today we are still faced with problems of natural destruction.
Question: I am still unsure about the last lines of the poem:
"and all watched over / by machines of loving grace"
What does Brautigan mean? Is it perhaps his vision of a future where we are all watched over by machines that dominate our lives?
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3 comments:
I don't think he means dominating so much as he means protecting. A world where the machines might be just as prominent as the living things but still harmonious... still a part of the same world. But that's just what I got out of it, and I think a world like that would be beautiful....
I don't think Brautigan's vision is truly unrealistic as you say. I believe that Brauitgan observes a world in which the organic and the inorganic (nature and civilization) are merging and unbalanced.
This poem points to the need for balance, and I think he is on to something... we need some balance. Perhaps if one day we can feel empathy for animals (fellow carbon-based lifeforms) as well as computers (dare I say silicon-based lifeforms?) we might be more able to feel empathy for each other.
What the fuck am I talking about?--I think I am joining Brautigan down a rabbit hole that is worth exploring if we are going to find any balance to this crazy world we live in.
Derek, you're right on about the sarcastic tone in this poem, which is an RB trademark of sorts. What I think you're getting at with this observation is how absurd it is to envision deer strolling peacefully past computers... we might like to think about technology and nature living side by side, but is this absurd picture what we want really? Do we want a "cybernetic meadow"? What is that, even, and can we trust it, when the thought of cybernetics makes us want things instantly (your great point about the urgency)? The poem seems to be raising these types of questions...all related to whether we can actually expect nature and technology to be best friends forever. At the same time, as J and W are pointing out - there IS a sense of hope, no?
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