14)

“The situation of the tourist at the Grand Canyon and the biology student are special cases of a predicament in which everyone finds himself in a modern technical society - a society, that is, in which there is a division between expert and layman, planner and consumer, in which experts and planners take special measures to teach and edify the consumer.” (Percy 6)

This is where Percy ties the entire essay back to the central theme of his paper, as well as the section where he states that theme most clearly and effectively. The point he is trying to make is that, directly quoting what I wrote in Annotation 1, “a modern and evolving society causes the wider establishment of preconceived notions and ideas that end up spoiling new or stimulating experiences.”

• Henry Reynolds

1) The title that Percy gives his essay, “The Loss of the Creature,” is particularly interesting and foreshadowing. Having read through the essay, I believe that the “creature” that is “lost” or “dying” is metaphorically our own humanness, more specifically our delight for nature and knowledge. Simply put, a modern and evolving society causes the wider establishment of preconceived notions and ideas that end up spoiling new or stimulating experiences.

• Henry Reynolds

13)

“I am serious in declaring that a Sarah Lawrence English major who began poking about in a dogfish with a bobby pin would learn more in thirty minutes than a biology major in a whole semester,” (Percy 5-6)

Naturally, this sentence popped out and stuck with me because it makes such a bold, yet nevertheless supported, claim. The point that Percy is trying to make here is that when a subject is taken outside of our artificial realm of knowledge or study, hence the English major doing biology, it fosters greater learning because it is more natural and raw learning.

• Henry Reynolds

12)

“The technician and the sophomore who loves his textbooks are always offended by the genuine research man because the latter is usually a little vague and always humble before the thing; he doesn’t have much use for the equipment or the jargon. Whereas the technician is never vague and never humble before the thing; he holds the thing disposed of by the principle, the formula, the textbook outline; he thinks a great deal of equipment in jargon.” (Percy 5)

In this section of the text, Percy is describing another method by which a student can truly recover a subject from what he calls the “educational package”. He suggests that the student take on the apprenticeship of a great research man, one who is mindful and aware of the metaphorical “trap” that is the classroom, all in hope that he will pass along his mindfulness to his student. Percy shows that the research man is one of few who understands the natural simplicity of the subject.

• Henry Reynolds.

11)

“First by ordeal: The Bomb falls; when the young man recovers his consciousness in the shambles of the biology laboratory, there not ten inches from his face lies the dogfish.” (Percy 5)

In this section of the text, Percy is describing one of the ways in which a student can metaphorically “free” a subject from what Percy calls the “educational package”. A more rough and physical approach, Percy suggests the physical dismantlement of the classroom would allow for a true understanding and appreciation for a given subject, in the example he describes being biology.

• Henry Reynolds

10)

“The dogfish, the tree, the seashell, the American Negro, the dream, are rendered invisible by a shift of reality from concrete thing to theory which Whitehead has called the fallacy of misplaced concreteness.” (Percy 4-5)

In this section of the text, Percy exposes another central theme of his essay that I quite agree with. Essentially, he is saying that the transferring of natural things like nature and art into artificial settings like a classroom often illustrates the subjects as more complicated than they actually are, which then undermines the whole purpose and spoils those subjects for anyone looking to explore and appreciate them.

• Henry Reynolds

9)

“But on the other hand, the source of his pleasure testifies to a certain alienation. For the young man is actually barred from a direct encounter with anything French excepting only that which has been set forth, authenticated by Puccini and Rolland - those who know. If he had encountered the restaurant scene without reading Hemingway, without knowing that the performance was so typically, charmingly French, he would not have been delighted. He would only have been anxious at seeing things get so out of hand.” (Percy 3-4)

I find it particularly interesting that in this section of the text, Percy openly and knowingly contradicts his previous points and central idea of his essay. The gist of the text leading up to this point is that society acts as a barrier between man and his ability to appreciate the world. Yet in this case, it is the preconceived notion of France by other “experts” that shape this individual’s enjoyment of the scene. Societal insight acts not as a barrier, but as an aid for appreciation. I would be curious to know more about why Percy included this in his essay because it seems to weaken the message he is trying to convey.

• Henry Reynolds

8)

“Wouldn’t most people be sorry if Battleship Point fell into the canyon, carrying all one’s fellow passengers to their death, leaving one alone on the South Rim? I cannot answer this. Perhaps there are such people. Certainly a great many American families would swear they had no such problems, that they came, saw, and went away happy. Yet it is just these families who would be happiest if they had gotten the Inside Track and been among the surviving remnant.” (Percy 2)

Related to Percy’s insight in this quote, there is a 2022 film Fall that depicts the peril and struggle for survival of two young women who get stuck at the top of an abandoned radio tower in the rural midwest. Interestingly, it is because of their struggle, the fact that the girls cannot leave and must fight for their lives, that the audience becomes intrigued by the landscape, particularly the endless dunes and cacti. The film makes it seem like calamity and adventure help to recover the beauty of a natural landscape. However, I do also acknowledge that the experiences of and therefore the appreciation for the landmark may very well differ between the adventurer and their observer behind a screen.

• Henry Reynolds

6) “It may be recovered in a time of national disaster.” (Percy 2)

Closely linked to his earlier point, which I have identified in Annotation 6, Percy explains that it is often a disaster that leads to the dissolution of societal confinement at a natural landmark. In this way, a disaster can have a positive flipside in that it “exposes” the feature for its wonder without interference. In fact, Percy directly states that a sight can be “Exposed… By the decay of those facilities which were designed to help the sightseer.” (Percy 2) Of course, the degree of which the landmark is “exposed” would depend on the severity of the disaster and therefore the extent of the societal dissolution.

• Henry Reynolds

6)

“It may be recovered as a consequence of a breakdown of the symbolic machinery by which the experts present the experience to the consumer” (Percy 2)

This seems pretty straightforward to me. Simply put, Percy is saying that an absence of societal elements and confinement, whether that be crowds of people, appointed tour group leaders, or even barriers like fences and paths can help to recover the beauty of a natural landmark, likely because it is more “natural” and rustic.

• Henry Reynolds

5)

“It may be recovered by a dialectical movement which brings one back to the beaten track but at a level above it.” (Percy 1)

Again, Percy is trying to explain another way by which the “magic” and genuine interest for a natural landmark can be restored. Here, he explains that it is easier to develop a legitimate appreciation for a landmark when it has already been thoroughly explored by the visitor, almost completely normalized and built into their memory. Evidently, it is that sense of familiarity that restores the landmark’s full beauty.

• Henry Reynolds

4)

“It may be recovered by leaving the beaten track.” (Percy 1)

What Percy is trying to explain here is pretty straightforward. He is saying that one way in which a person can restore a genuine love and interest for a natural landmark is by exploring it via unconventional or unexplored paths.

• Henry Reynolds

3)

“For him there is no present; there is only the past of what has been formulated and seen and the future of what has been formulated and not seen. The present is surrendered to the past and the future.” (Percy 1)

Here, Percy explains that for many tourists, their “experience” at the landmark they are visiting doesn’t figuratively live in the present moment. Instead, they are hung up on making sure the experience lives up to descriptions from the past and will be preserved for the present. By definition, we are only truly “living” in the present moment, the past is gone and the future hasn’t happened yet. In my opinion, when one ignores the present moment, they sacrifice the scarce and irreplaceable moments in life.

• Henry Reynolds

2)

“Does not one see the same sight from the Bright Angel Lodge that Cárdenas saw?” (Percy 1)

Percy is directly asking the reader an essential question that they are meant to consider and explore while reading the essay. As the text continues, Percy makes the point that while tourists do see the Grand Canyon physically the same as explorer Cárdenas saw it, the sight loses its personal impact because the sight is no longer unique, it has already been discovered and widely popularized in the media.

• Henry Reynolds