When it comes to nature, Thoreau is a master of observations. In "The Shipwreck" he
writes of the state a small seaside town is in after a shipwreck on its shores leave over a hundred
passengers dead. We read as people, men, and women, and children are buried, their lives
drowned out by the unforgiving sea. Thoreau was not affected by the wreck personally, thus he is
able to tell of the event with an impartial air. This lets him focus more on nature rather than the
loss of life. Much like some of the other writers that have been mentioned in this class, Thoreau's
view of nature was one of apathy; nature will do what it wants, damn the consequences.
In Thoreau's opinion, the relationship between us humans and nature is one of giving and
taking; we take and nature continues on despite us or in spite of us. It becomes clear, in "The
Shipwreck", that even though nature can take life easily, it also gives as the people gather up the
seaweed that had washed ashore because of the storm. Thoreau's view of the sea in "The
Shipwreck" can actually be compared to "To Build A Fire" and Jack London's view on nature. In
both pieces, both authors write about the ruthlessness of nature but also of nature's indifference
to us. Humanity might go out into nature, whether the sea or into the wild, but they cannot tame
it; the only thing a person can do is try to be as knowledgeable as they can and be prepared.
Nature doesn't give one lick if you're a king or a peasant. Nature does what it does.
At the end of the day, Thoreau's "The Shipwreck" tells of the intimate relationship
between humanity and nature where only one side is aware of the relationship. We can try to
appease nature, but nature doesn't care. Not because nature is malicious or cruel, but because it
simply is what it is. Like London or Coleridge or Dillard or Frost, Thoreau knows that nature is
as cruel as it is beautiful as we as humans have to be aware of this always.