Rachel Carson Silent Spring

In Chapter One, Carson sets the scene for her book with a "once upon a time" introduction. She describes the pre-destruction town and idyllic countryside in language is fairly rhapsodic in its celebration of the harmony between man and nature that once existed. The fairy tale soon ends, however, as Carson quickly snaps the reader out of the fairy tale by stating that the people themselves have caused the widespread destruction of life. She tells us that the town doesn't actually exist, but that these same examples of environmental destruction have in fact occurred in various locations, and although she hasn't yet identified the "grim specter" that has caused so much death, she attempts to explain why "spring is now silent" in so many American towns.