Edward Abbey's second novel, The Brave Cowboy, intensely critiques modern life. The book celebrates wide open spaces and freedom through a coherent comparison with an adjacent reality: the hustle and bustle of the city. As the novel continues, we experience the challenges and constraints that Abbey relates to modernity, which Abbey deems unfortunate but inevitable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayAbbey criticized modern American life because he believed wilderness should go "beyond the human" ( Minteer). In The Brave Cowboy, Abbey champions a natural environment in which one can think without distraction, one of the book's common themes as he laments an increasing reliance on mechanical elements. As Abbey expressed in another 1982 work, Down the River, the connection to the environment is sacred because "loyalty to the land, the land that has carried us and sustains us, the only home we will ever know ever, the only paradise we will ever need.” — if only we had eyes to see” (Minteer). Abbey shows us that private, meaningful reflection is challenged by life led in an industrialized society; it characterizes the earth as a living and teaching entity. Abbey begins The Brave Cowboy with an ode to what he loved deeply: a vast, untouched land. The prologue lovingly explores the beauty of the West and a specific valley “where ghosts come to brood and weep” (Abbey 7). Abbey describes the wilderness, writing: "The river flows past the cornfields and mud villages of the Indians, past groves of red willows and cane oaks, through the edge of the white man's town [ ...] beyond the Mountain of Thieves, far to the south and finally disappears into the violet mist of the distance” (7). As soon as the main character, Jack Burns, approaches the first signs of civilization, Abbey introduces trash and detritus: "Horse and man have outgrown other signs and stigmata of life: the petrography of a wild turkey chiseled in stone, a pair of tincans riddled with bullet holes of various calibers, brass cartridges, an empty sardine can dissolving in rust. They were approaching civilization” (7). Abbey introduces the creeping sense that decay is closing in on Burns as he gets closer to the city, and we even feel resistance from his horse as we get closer: "Whiskey walked on the hard asphalt , shook his head and backed away, fighting the reins” (25). When Abbey introduces a town in The Brave Cowboy, he makes it clear that the buzz and bustle are detrimental. He describes the city as "sunburned" (124) and full of distractions, constantly referring to the city's noise pollution and distracting lights: "The darkness was far from total: the four-way highway The lanes that snaked along the bottom of the pass were alive, crawling, itchy with automobile traffic - and an endless procession of tiny points of light moving like beads on a string through the darkness, passing and repassing, disappearing, reappearing, feeding into at night from seemingly inexhaustible sources (267). It is not just the presence of the City of Lights that causes frustration, but the presence of any artificial or artificial light. He becomes the enemy, as when the helicopter crashes and "the big main rotor [was] still spinning, blinking" despite its obvious failure: Abbey makes it clear that one should never trustthese artificial elements (232). Previously, Burns was scared by a flashlight in the desert while trying to "keep a low profile." As Abbey describes it: “Then he saw and almost felt a beam of light that swung rapidly through the air above his head, danced on the leaves of the poplar trees, and disappeared” (203). There are even colors that Abbey says are dangerously too modern. , and one of them is yellow. Yellow is a spontaneous and sometimes unstable color. In fact, studies show that overuse of yellow can be bothersome to the mind (Precision Intermedia). Yellow can affect concentration and make it more difficult to concentrate, which fits Abbey's view of city life as very disturbing. An ominous and disturbing color, it appears regularly in The Brave Cowboy: when Bondi looks outside the prison cell, Abbey describes the “yellow rectangles of the lit windows, all the multiple refractions of the great American night” (58). He refers to "yellow darkness" and also includes a strong description of urban life at the end of the novel: "Urban streets are a chaos of sounds, colors and movements: "Blue, red, yellow, flashing and dancing [. ..] while blue red yellow screams neon” (280-281). These elements distract the individual from the contemplation that Abbey believes is so vital. In fact, Abbey not only identifies certain colors with artificial and natural elements, but he compares the color palettes of the city to those of his favorite environment, nature. The city is often described as having disjointed and harsh color schemes or, conversely, as being washed out of all colors. The city seems bustling but has no soul, while the desert offers stunning views and surprising signs of natural life. One of the most powerful descriptions of the campaign can be found when Burns travels through the canyon: "Unexpectedly the vista opened wide and the whole Western world appeared before him: the canyon descending step step by step like an imperial staircase for the gods, the purple and gaunt foothills, the mesa that stretches for miles, the faint glow of the river” (201). Even this painting has the power to transform the city into something beautiful — from a distance: “The vast, rolling city ten miles away, transformed by the evening twilight into something fantastic, grand and charming, a rich constellation of jewels sparkling like the embers of a fire” (201). Abbey makes it clear that modern, industrialized life is no place for contemplative thought. Its protagonist finds peace and quiet in the desert and seeks it as refuge. Burns, even without his sleeping bag and on the run, finds a moment of calm and comfort in his privileged habitat: "He burped, lying on his back, and considered the possibility of not attacking his mare and her its equipment. [...] Burns blew on the pipe again, watching the gray smoke drift toward the stars” (200-201). Abbey writes that the silence of the desert is a “perfect dome” and cherishes the “vast silence” that constitutes “the desert, the river, and the valley” (15). Nature connects each element, while the noise and bustle of the city are perceived as disjointed. Finally, Abbey emphasizes the importance of nature by making it dominate artificial elements. Abbey describes the presence of the mountain and, at the beginning of the book, emphasizes its “not to be ignored” character: The mountains overlooked the valley like a physical presence, source and mirror of nervous influences, emotions, subtle aspirations and without label; no man could ignore this presence; in a clandestine poker game, in the vaults of the First National Bank, in the rooms,. 2017.