Personhood and Place in Wendell Berry's Remembering

Abstract

Abstract: Psychological studies indicate that people concerned for how they will be remembered are likely to manifest environmentally-friendly behavior. Researchers suggest, therefore, that the fear of unfavorable public perception can be used to overcome psychological barriers to pro-environmental action. Wendell Berry also ties memory and perception to environmental objectives but instead of using fear and trying to overcome obstacles, he focuses on love and accepting limitation. Love, for Berry, is not just a feeling or attitude towards another but an orientation to the world that develops character, social bonds, and good farming. Berry's novel Remembering uses Dante's Divine Comedy to dramatize this love as divine and present throughout nature. Remembering uses the structure of Dante's journey to show how the protagonist develops a healthy subjectivity in addition to good farming through this love as it is manifested in community.