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Who has decided—who has the right to decide—for the countless legions of people who were not consulted that the supreme value is a world without insects, even though it be also a sterile world ungraced by the curving wing of a bird in flight?

This quote, which occurs at the end of Chapter 8 after a disturbing catalog of the effects that pesticides have on birds, epitomizes Carson’s sharp political critique of those responsible for the misuse of these toxins. In evoking the language of rights, Carson frames the issue as an overtly political one. The phrase “the curving wing of a bird in flight” also illustrates the eloquent, lyrical prose that the book is known for and that is a hallmark of Carson’s writing style. Her evocative, poetic description of the beauty of a bird is a defense of nature on its own merits.

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