78 pages • 2 hours read
The Monkey Wrench Gang
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Environmental Activism Versus Anarchy
Abbey's novel was one of the first American novels to present the various approaches to environmental activism, kickstarting a nationwide movement. Though each of the gang's members agree that "someone or something was changing things" (16) for the worse in the Southwestern desert, they don't all agree on how to handle these changes. Doc prefers "constructive vandalism" (112) against the "megalomaniacal megamachine" (167): the kind that damages property and environmentally-exploitative operations. Doc is against harm to humans, no matter how deserving, and destructive vandalism, which he calls "petty-bourgeois" (86). Doc, who believes "anarchy is not the answer" (74), and Bonnie begin their activism by tearing down roadside billboards. Smith, too, seems on board with this kind of activism. Despite his rage at developers, Smith simply prays for an act of God to destroy the bridge. His plan to destroy the Glen Canyon Dam does not seem to cause loss of human life.
Hayduke, on the other hand, prefers "what he calls “creative destruction'" (225). He advocates using dynamite frequently to "really blast this motherfucker" (89) and wouldn't care if his actions harmed humans. Additionally, Hayduke prefers to launch opportunistic environmental attacks, without concern for being caught. This attitude seems to come from the time he spent in Vietnam and the utterly violent anarchy he witnessed there as a POW. When trying to stop the development, Hayduke says Native Americans and "bleeding heart types" (169) have already tried diplomacy and it hasn't worked. Hayduke's determination for violent destruction and retribution disturb the gang. Smith calls him a "lunatic" (187), Bonnie calls him a "degenerate bastard" (225), and Doc says Hayduke is a "certifiable psychopath" (360).
Wilderness and the Ownership of Land
The wilderness, as Doc believes, "once offered men a plausible way of life" (63), though now, "it functions as a psychiatric refuge" (63). These sentiments offer a romanticized perspective of the reality of land ownership in the Southwest. The wilderness of the Southwest became tamed through the processes of Native American removal, construction of reservations, and the establishment of the National Park system. Though Doc might refer to the encroachment of developers, he seems also to point towards a sense of ownership of land that belongs to neither him nor any of the gang's members. However, Hayduke, Doc, and Smith all make claims to the lands around Glen Canyon at one time or another, driving their sense of protecting and preserving the land around them. Hayduke calls its "God's country, Hayduke's country" (18), Doc calls the Rio Grande "my river" (12), and Smith thinks that "the night and the wilderness belong to us" (87). It is unclear whether Smith's “us” includes all people indigenous to the region, as Smith immediately after calls the land, "Indian country. Our country" (87).
In the Southwest, the terrain may be wild but few areas are left without administration. All of the land, being US territory, falls under Federal authority, whether the gang believes it should or not. When faced with the charge of "camping in a nondesignated camping area" (395) in a national park, Smith can't follow the logic. "This here's my country" (395), Smith says, "I live here. I'm a Utahn" (395). Lee's Ferry, for example, has been "turned over to the administration of the National Park Service in order to protect it from vandalism and commercial exploitation" (37). To the gang, however, administration by the NPS means more clueless tourists and more stringent regulations—both negatives in their eyes.
Land Use and Development
Land in the American Southwest has long been in dispute of “ownership” between Native Americans, white settlers, ranchers, oil companies, and the Federal Government. Abbey's novel presents various perspectives on who should have access to the land, and how that land should be used. It seems as though each party involved, like the elderly gas station worker Hayduke and Smith encounter, "don't like them outsiders […] tryin' to tell us what we can do with ahr air" (157). For the gang, the Glen Canyon Dam represents the ultimate misuse of land. It has created a manmade lake, disrupted the Colorado River's flow, and submerged areas like Hite, where Smith was raised. The gang also sees roads, bridges, and railroads "built for the benefit of certain companies" (77) as misuses of land. Hayduke believes cattle raising "created [a] wasteland" (155). In Abbey's view, land receives the protection of that “trembling twig the U.S. Department of the Interior" (155)—not nearly enough to spare it from devastation.
However, not everyone sees these developments as misuses. Glen Canyon City, for example, a town of "no human habitation whatsoever" (31), boasts a handwritten sign that promises "Fourty Million $Dollar Power Plant To Be Buildt Twelve Miles From Here Soon" (31). In places as desolate and desperate as places like these, a power plant brings promises of employment and money. The land used for the Peabody Coal Company belongs to the "sold-out, deceived and betrayed Navajo Nation" (171), however they're represented by "the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Government" (167). In this way, the government seems to have co-opted or incentivized use of Native-owned lands for exploitative profit. Additionally, when driving through the logging area in Kaibab, Bonnie posits that if this were "a national forest—then it belonged to us, right [?]" (228). Hayduke explains to Bonnie that land given national-forest status does not exempt the land from being sold to "loggers" (229).
Unlock all 78 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
