The first chapter of Leo Marx’s book ‘The Machine in the Garden. Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America’ is named Sleepy Hollow. This name is derived from one of Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s writings whereby he describes a small space scooped out among the woods which is used for farming Indian corn and which according to Hawthorne “is like the lap of a bounteous Nature, filed with bread stuff”(Marx 12).
Hawthorn observes various elements of nature and appreciates the ability of nature to provide a calm and serene environment to think and be imaginative. The nature allows him a brief flight from reality, and he describes some of the beauties of nature that he observes. He writes ‘sunshine glimmers through shadow, and shadow, and shadow effaces sunshine, imaging that pleasant mood of mind where gaiety and pensiveness intermingle’ (Marx 13). He also observes several animal sounds such as those made by birds and squirrels and these also contribute towards this seemingly perfect repose of nature.
Hawthorne also observes that close by, there is a society comprised of people, and these people are also making their own noises including what he describes as “sounds of labor.” He, however, suggests that these sounds and images of man and the society do not disturb the repose of this scene. In fact, there is almost a harmonious effect that he states is “evoked by the delicate interlacing of sounds that seem to unify society, landscape and mind" (Marx 13). However, the situation changes all of sudden when a moving train appears and makes large shrieks and sounds that disrupt all this harmony. It disrupts the whole repose of the scene and essentially creates a “noisy world” ( Marx 13). It is on the basis of this event that Leo Marx presents his thesis.
According to Marx, the interruption of machine into the natural, peaceful pastoral landscape is a motif that characterizes American culture. It is a concept that has particularly been expressed in the works of America’s famous authors including the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Melville, Twain among others. Also, Marx posits that the pastoral ideal whereby people envision an escape into a rural landscape that is not pervaded by some of the elements of modernity and industrialization has essentially been incorporated into a powerful metaphor of contradiction in the current society. It has become a way of ordering both value and meaning that clarifies the situation of individuals today. Industrialism has played a huge role in this.
Marx’s arguments holds a lot of ground when the content that he uses to support them is taken into consideration. First of all, the pastoral ideal is almost a natural aspect of human life. Everyone desires at one point to escape the realities of life and retreat to a peaceful, idyllic area that provides a repose (Hirsch 185) such as the one described by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The pastoral ideal would has even more appeal when one is overwhelmed by aspects of modernity (Marx 260). For example, most of the current American cities are very crowded, and there is chaos in almost every aspect of life (Marx 260). Things such as air and noise pollution make living in such environments very uncomfortable. Noise pollution is particularly very rampant in urban centers. This comes from a variety of sources with the main source of noise being automobiles. The presence of these aspects without a doubt cultivates a pastoral ideal in an individual where he or she wishes for an escape into a calm environment, mostly likely an environment in a rural or pastoral area (Marx 261). Therefore, based on this, it is clear where Marx is coming from when he states that the pastoral ideal has become a metaphor of contradiction in the current society. It essentially contradicts the current realities of people and an imaginative environment that that they desire or envision for themselves.
Marx suggests that the pastoral ideal has been in humans since the age of discovery. It is difficult to argue with this point particularly because of how he defends it. The existence of the pastoral ideal is seen as being part of the American culture ever since immigrants who dreamed of escaping their current realities and starting life afresh landed on the continent. This pastoral ideal was reinforced during the age of industrialism as Marx suggest.
Mark convincingly uses the works of various authors to prove this argument. This is where he brings about the argument about ‘the small event’ that characterizes most of the American literature published during and beyond the Industrialization era (Segal 138). The small event refers to something or an occurrence that disrupts the pastoral ideal and throws a person or a community into a complicated set of mind. In Hawthorne’s works, for example, this small event is the appearance of a train that essentially interrupts the perfect repose created by the immediate pastoral environment that Hawthorne is currently enjoying. In fact, Marx still uses another example from Hawthorns’ works to once again exhibit the existence of a ‘small event’ as something that causes disruption. This is where Hawthorne drops a few grains of sand in the entrance of an ant hole therefore obliterating it. This results in massive chaos and confusion for the ants.
As mentioned previously, the pastoral ideal is mainly reinforced in the minds of human beings when they are overwhelmed by modernity. This ideal becomes a metaphor of contradiction between what they are experiencing and what they desire. In simpler terms, they become even more sensitive to increase in features that interfere or threaten their ability to meet the pastoral ideal. This is an aspect that Marx brilliantly explains once again by alluding to the works of American authors such as Hawthorn. In particular, he points out the strong reaction of Hawthorne to the railroad and the oncoming train that disrupts his perfect repose.
According to Marx, in order to understand Hawthorne's response, one must first understand and appreciate his feelings for the landscape, which in this case functions as an opposing force to the railroad and the train. He mentions that the same must also be done for other American writers.
Just like other writers, Hawthorne shows extreme sensitivity towards modernity, specifically the new industrial power and this is why he reacts to the railroad and the train in a negative manner. His mind is held up in the pastoral ideals that are inadvertently prompted by new world circumstances, in his case, the new industrial power. This is a very valid point because through it, Marx effectively tackles an element of human nature, which is to seek an outlet in the form of pastoral ideal when new world circumstances threaten to get out of hand (Segal 141). In regard to the ‘small event’ prevalent in many works by American authors whereby a ‘machine’ in many cases intrudes into the peaceful and idyllic landscape, it can be said that the incorporation of this aspect is simply them trying to appreciate the inevitability of modernity and its associated technology intruding the pastoral landscape and, therefore, disrupting its envisioned perfect repose.
Conclusively, the first chapter (Sleepy Hollow) in Leo Marx’s book ‘The Machine in the Garden. Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America’ is a well-articulated piece of information that fully brings into focus the author’s viewpoints about the infusion of the pastoral ideal into the American culture. Marx brilliantly defends his arguments particularly using American literature published through years and through this, he is able to lay a solid groundwork or foundation for the discussions that follow in the rest of book. From this chapter, he is able to convince the reader that indeed, the disruption of the idyllic landscape by a “machine” has been an ever-present motif in American culture.
Works Cited
Buell, Lawrence. "American Pastoral Ideology Reappraised." American Literary History 1.1 (1989): 1-29.
Hirsch, Jerrold. "Modernity, nostalgia, and southern folklore studies: the case of John Lomax." Journal of American Folklore (1992): 183-207.
Marx, Leo. "Pastoral Ideals and City Troubles." The Journal of General Education (1969): 251-271.
Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
Segal, Howard P. "Leo Marx's" Middle Landscape": A Critique, a Revision, and an Appreciation." (1977): 137-150.
