Life Under Our Feet

In chapter five, Realms of the Soil, Carson wants the reader to realize how vast and varied the underground web of life is. Most people don’t notice or care to notice the community beneath our feet, but Carson aims to emphasize its importance in the ecosystem. She writes, “The specialization of some of these minute creatures for their task is almost incredible” (55). This is an interesting choice of words, especially when compared with how she has used “specialization” as a sort of curse word when referring to humans. But whereas human specialization tends to go against nature to dominate it, the specialization of this underground community of life is produced by and necessary for nature. Every species of life in the soil has its own specific task it must perform, such as the gradual overturning of soil by earthworms or the aeration by larger mammals.

Carson also characterizes the ecosystem of the soil with utmost importance: “The truly staggering task of dealing with the tremendous amount of plant material in the annual leaf fall belongs to some of the small insects of the soil and the forest floor” (55). Not only is the task so huge—deliberate word choice in “tremendous” and “staggering”—but it is performed by the smallest of insects! Carson succeeds in putting the task of this community in perspective for humans. Without the combined workforce of underground life, plant life above it would not be possible. And if plant life is not possible, then the mammals who depend on it for sustenance will die off, and then the humans who rely on them will lose a crucial food source. She uses Darwin-like imagery of the layers of life, starting with the soil; then she goes on to show how all of these layers are connected and rely on each other. It’s amazing how the very small so intimately affects each subsequent stratum of life. How can humans be so blind to destroy such an important part of the ecosystem with chemical poisons? If we aim to destroy just one small weed, the chemical can seep into the soil and irreversibly change the way nature conducts itself—for the worse.