Greg Maillet considers the reasons why children like to have animals in literature. His article observes the interesting ways a Canadian poet gets children to admire animals which are admittedly dangerous by casting a comical light on them (249). The article explores how this poet uses animals to suggest more complex ideas to children like “philosophy or other abstractions” (254-257). These philosophical or abstract ideas are what I wish to find in children’s literature. While stereotypes are dangerous, it is helpful to pay attention to patterns in how writers represent nature in their literature. A term for this representation is “ecocriticism” (Garrard 61). Clare Echterling notes that ecocriticism becomes an intentional genre only in the 1990’s (117), emerging from an earlier genre of “nature writing” (Armbruster 156, Wu 143). Despite this, scholars have seen certain messages in environmental literature predominate in different regions and eras. Does a recurring message exist in American literature today? My hypothesis is yes, nature has positive relationships with the "good guys" and negative ones with the "bad guys.”

To test this hypothesis, I examine three children’s books with vastly different authors, topics, and truth to real historical events. When considering the history of literary representation of wildlife, there is also a consideration of the “adult” literature of the past because this was the only thing children had to read. According to Kathy Short and Carol Lynch-Brown in their book Essentials to Children’s Literature, works that are specifically for children, which consider their needs and comprehension, do not emerge in English literature until the late 1600’s; for example, they mark 1657 as the year when the "first known work of nonfiction for children" (155) emerged. The oldest extant children’s poetry dates to 1744 (83). They also state that 1894 is when the Anglophone world started to adapt folktales for children (99).

What I actually find is that nature not only helps but also hinders the goals of the protagonist or “good guy.” The key is that the protagonist can identify with something in nature. The villains may also have something in nature that reflects their character, but unlike the main character, the villains do not acknowledge this relationship.

The Place of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in African Literature

There are different histories in different countries regarding the representation of nature in literature. Ecocriticism is a recent study concerning how English-speaking authors of European descent relate their characters to wildlife. Dr. Chengyi Wu argues that using ecocriticism on African literature causes readers to miss the central ideas of African writers; unlike English and American culture, African culture ties nature and other aspects of ordinary life so closely together that they consider nature neither to be separate from their ordinary lives nor to be pure when left alone (142-144).

Nevertheless, I consider The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in this ecocritical study because Kamkwamba does direct what he says to an American audience. He does so with explanations such as, “In Malawi, maize is as important as the water we drink” (62). What is more, the American journalist Bryan Mealer helped Kamkwamba write this book.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwamba presents The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, his autobiography with his impoverished beginnings in Malawi. Kamkwamba uses both positive and negative representations of nature. William claims his muscles are “as hard as green fruit,” which are also full of potential, after working on his windmill (1). On the other hand, William also reflects his identity through his description of his country as a “flatworm burrowing its way through Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania, looking for a little room,” or recognition (4). William also compares his precious, homemade windmill with a giraffe, admitting his work is not elegant but at least reaches for the skies (195). William forms a close relationship with a dog, Khamba, which he admits people rarely do in his culture (38, 117-127).

A pivotal occurrence in the plot is when William sees the windmills, which indicate the presence of wind, and realizes he can use hydroelectricity to bring light, enlightenment, music, water, and consequently food to his home (147-149, 228). William resolves to get a more efficient mechanism for part of his windmill only after his prototype almost shreds his hands to pieces (221-224). These situations act as obstacles which push the plot forward toward resolution. Also, at one point “a magnificent gust… whipped up the… pieces in its arms” reflecting William’s excitement (186); although, William admits he cannot remember if it really happened or he imagined it (186).

Nevertheless, before getting this great inspiration which William credits to the natural world, he spends a few chapters describing how the rain would not cooperate, leading to a famine which almost kills him. Thinking of villains, no one necessarily wants to physically harm William, but people insult him for working in the junkyard instead of praising his resourcefulness (178-179, 182, 199). Yet they leave him alone for the most part as he works in the junkyard, so he has a place to let his imagination run free (177-178). When others do meet him inside the scrapyard, William says they run away, suspecting he is a madman (184). He also found privacy and a place to hunt in the blue gum forest (40-43). Thus, the junkyard and forest are both a haven and a source of ridicule to him.

A History of Hispanic Literature

Margarita Engle’s ecocriticism shows a new trend in Hispanic literature. According to Becky Boling, Spanish writers of the colonial period tend to represent wildlife as something to conquer. In more recent literature, the new trend among Hispanic authors is to have wildlife reflect the state of the people inhabiting it (Boling). Engle displays a concept similar to this modern one in The Surrender Tree.

The Surrender Tree

Margarita Engle writes the historical fiction poetic novel The Surrender Tree as the great-granddaughter of refugees from the Cuban war for independence from 1868-1898 (Introduction and 165-166). While the book clearly has nature help the heroes in some ways, there are still instances of nature helping evil. Nature gives protection to the heroine Rosa and other Cubans who are seeking liberty; it also reflects human identities or situations not only in inspiring ways but also in discouraging ways.

 Regarding protection, Rosa and her friends hide in caves and camouflage their shelters in the jungle (Engle, 48-49, 61). Yet José makes a half proud and half regretful metaphor with the remark, “Our lives are caves filled with secrets” (97). Rosa identifies with harmless bees which many ignorant people still fear (3). This is a significant act because the slave hunters flee Rosa’s hideout later when they think the stingless bees are going to attack them, yet Rosa and her friends enjoy the honey (136). She also learns some of the language of birds and other animals along with African, Cuban, and Spanish dialects (53). Later, Rosa compares her limitations and resulting mindset to that of caged birds (115). Rosa also looks at heart-shaped leaves and, finding peace in them, decides she will fight for independence by healing with herbs (25, 27). She also identifies herself and José with the timber of a guayacán tree which sinks; as such, she explains that she and José cannot “drift on airy daydreams” but can be a kind of anchor for those who can do so during the war, or storm (113).

However, not all of nature reflects the condition of the heroes of this book. In fact, some of it reflects the character of the evil characters. Rosa appreciates the gratitude and seemingly sweet nature of even the slave hunters’ dogs (22), but the indication that the dogs still work for the slave hunters shows that not everything in nature fully supports the heroine. Also, the nickname deserters receive is “cave boa” (133). Nevertheless, these deserters do not call themselves this. Also, when Lieutenant Death sees nature all around him in the form of “crabs,” “crocodiles,” “parrots,” “vultures,” “hummingbirds,” and “flowers” (125), he does not compare himself to any of these creatures but says, “Here I am, alone…lost…” (125).

The Place of Holes in American Literature

Ecocriticism has revealed that in the past, minorities do not receive fair representation through the symbolic use of nature (Armbruster 157). Melissa Bailes explains how this affected the Romantic writers in detail, causing them to write about nature in novel ways. As the Spanish do, English writers of the colonial period tend to represent nature as something to dominate. Echterling focuses on C.S. Lewis for a specific example, conceding that while Lewis presents nature in both good and evil forms with a general focus on the good, the worlds revolve around the children and their “exploration and control in some ways of distant lands” (100). The emphasis may be on “reverential stewardship,” (101) but this phrase still implies people are to rule over nature, not try to cohabit with other creatures as the new going-green movement wants to teach (Guignard and Murphy 1-3, Armbruster 156-157).

Holes

Louis Sachar writes the fictional narrative Holes about American segregation while reflecting his Jewish American background (Sachar, The ‘Hole’ Truth). Sachar, like the previous two authors, does not forms only positive relationships between nature and his protagonist. Sachar ties the fate of Stanley to a stolen pig, which is rather humbling. The other prisoners in Sachar’s story give the protagonist Stanley the nickname “Caveman” (47). Stanley himself later adopts this name (53-54, 74). Although this “caveman” example has to do with identification of another person, it is one who generally represents “earthy” people of the past. The yellow spotted lizards, though petrifying to Stanley, Hector, and everyone else, help to keep the two boys safe from the warden and counselors until help arrives (204-216). Another crucial point is that no one pursues Stanley and Hector when they run away from “camp” because of the belief that the desert expanse will kill anyone who tries to cross it (14, 139-140, 148-149). In this way, the wilderness protects these heroes as well, so they can make an exploration without fear of pursuers. What is more, Stanley and Hector thrive in the oasis of onions at the top of the mountain (182). As with the previous two books, sometimes nature simply reflects the state of the protagonist whether it be favorable or unfavorable. This is especially noticeable in the transformation of the “If Only” lullaby; the animals in the song and Stanley’s attitude turn together from longing and dreariness at the beginning (8) to hope and courage by the end (233).

As for the villains or resistant elements of nature in the book, Sachar alludes to the Warden being like a snake, particularly through her deceit, promising the compliant prisoner a rest yet working all of them harder than before after the break (66, 77). However, the Warden never acknowledges this likeness- not even when explaining she has nail polish with rattlesnake venom (90). Also, the sun’s constant glare over Stanley reminds the reader of the glares he gets from his inmates (117, 152), but no one verbalizes this similarity.

Conclusion

In summary, the common epiphany for these main characters is that they can relate who they are to something in nature. What is especially striking about the relationship between all three protagonists and wildlife is that they choose to compare themselves to something despicable or unappealing in nature, such as the flatworm in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the bees in The Surrender Tree, and the Caveman in Holes. They sometimes do so in a poetic way, not causing the reader to feel pity but to consider these things in nature to be admirable or desirable instead. This is the authors’ way of saying that their racial identities, like certain things in nature, may seem unappealing at first but are truly beautiful and amazing.

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