Adriana Z.

Morales

INGL 3124-003

Prof. Brenda A. Camara

February 28, 2019

“Antaeus” Essay

“Nothing’s beautiful from every point of view.” – Horace. Things can be interpreted in different

ways, and people can have different opinions and different perspectives. The story “Antaeus”

by Borden Deal demonstrates the characters relationship and opposing views of nature. In the

story, the characters are T.J., the gang and the landlords. This essay will focus on both T.J. and

the landlords.

One of the characters in the story was T.J. He was a very smart and unique boy that felt close to

nature. He meets the gang and convinces them the idea of the idea of making a garden. He was

so determined to feel attachment with nature that he ended up creating it on the rooftop of a

building. He was compassionate towards nature and the gang could see it through his actions.

The garden was special for T.J. because it made him feel at home. In the line: “In Marion

County” (line 70). Surely he misses his hometown. T.J. was a nature enththiastenthusiast. For

instance, George Washington Carver who was an American agricultural scientist humanitarian

and helped improve thousands of lives providing crops, cultivation tips and techniques to better

agricultural life back in the 19th century.

However, the landlords were the last characters to appear in the story. The landlords find T.J.

and the gang in the rooftop of their building. They were surprised of seeing the garden and

decided to exterminate it the garden. The landlords perceive the garden insensitively. In the

line: “all that junk” (line 320). They surely see nature as meaningless. For example, this can be

seen as industrialization. Industrialization is the period that changes human from an agrarian

society to an industrial society involving the development of industries on a region. It has

negative effects towards nature like water pollution because of the use of chemicals or fuel in

the air that causes air pollution. This leads to a depletion of natural resources.

In short, different perspectives can change one’s point of view. This can be seen in T.J. and the

landlord’s points of views toward the garden. People will always have a different way of seeing

things and may not always agree with those who have an opposing view. No one is perfect and

there will always be different ideas. It is important to respect one’s position of seeing things.

That way people learn from one another and educate each other better.