Adaptive Failure: Easter's End/ Jared Diamond, USA (1937-)
Literal Comprehension: This chapter has described about
how Easter Island vanished with its heavenly state to barren land.
With different researchers the Island was discovered and studies a lot.
It was a little paradisediscovered by Dutch explorer Jacob
Roggeveen in 1772 as sandy and wasteland. Easter Island has 64
square miles in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 miles nearest from South
America. It was found barren, free less and having no animals beside
insects. The paradise like Island has been destroyed without any
ancient civilization, plants and animals. The visitors in 18th and 19th
centuries found the population of the Island could be 2,000. James
Cook found few people with three or four canoes and no capture of the
Island by the Polynesian people. People didn't have any contact with
other worlds.
The famous features of Island were its huge stone statues more than
200 stood together. The statues were very huge up to 270 tons, up to
500 feet tall and 10 feet long. This characteristic raises a question how
those inhabitants came and constructed such huge statues. How could
such statues be made without tools and resources? But by1864 all the
statues were fallen down. Some guessed that those Islanders might
have ultramodern tools and they were more intelligent. After the
experiments of skeleton the people were identified as Polynesian
origin. Different analysis found that the island had been discovered at
about 400 A.D. with population of 7,000 to 20,000. The Hausa tree
was used for making rope and palm trees were used for many works of
supply.
Other discoveries have pointed out that the first settlers of Easter
Island ate mostly Fish sea flightless geese etc. with the increase of
population people started to use forest for fires, Building, gardens,
canoes transporting goods, etc. The 15th century was the indication of
forest in the Easter Island and all trees species were totally extinct.
Gradually, the forest disappeared and destroyed that made life of
Islanders more uncomfortable. With the shortage of food sea birds and
animals were also finished. The government and people paid more
attention to social and political aspects. That slowly
made extinction of all species. The population was increasing rapidly.
Government and people did not take this Earth's problem seriously.
The present situation shows that politicians and business leaders are
heedless about this destruction without noticing gradually damaged
history of Easter Island. Still we do have history that awareness us not
to be more careless to destroy out world civilization like of Easter
Island.
Interpretation: This essay might be raising a strong but very much
serious question: Isn't it possible to have the soon extinction of
our present civilization as that of golden civilization Easter's
Island? Still the main focus of the writer seems to make conscious to
world people, countries and political leaders to learn the lesson from
the doomed civilization, histories etc. with causes and consequences.
We want to save our present civilization to coming generations. The
writer's main focus is to maintain our history and civilization to
coming generations being much conscious and learn much from books
and by one history. Easter's Island was a small paradise in past but
now it has become an extinct, barren land. There are many more
reasons behind the collapse of Easter Civilization.
Critical Thinking: We can easily accept that this essay has drawn out
attention very much. It has talked about out life, history and coming
generations and identities. Mostly the tone of this essay is pessimistic
that we are going to face same doom as that of Easter's Island if we
are coreless in our activities. We hardly raise any questions against the
ideas presented. The main convincing idea is that people are less
careful to ecological problems and matter of civilization. Still we are
not so much careless people we don't care history and do according to
our wishes. Rather we read history and past and see the way to future.
Assimilation: After going through this suggestive article I came to
know that we modern people shouldn't be proud on our culture and
civilization. We have to face the same fate as the vanished civilization
did in past. Future must be judged and though at present. We have to
learn a lot from the past. As looking to bygone history we can step
how to go further. This chapter has made all the people how to live
with natural resources and what should do for the upcoming
generations. All environmental problems, pollution and threats to
human existence is due to lack of proper utilization of natural
resources.
