Who Made Who

Carlos Espinoza

January 14, 2010

ENL 3

Mr. Hageman

Who Made Who?

Before I began to read the poem “All Watched Over by Machines in Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan, I decided to analyze the title. The title did not make a lot of sense to me. I thought the title meant that machines would one day take care of the human race. I wrote a question mark next to the “Loving Grace” part of the title because the title described machines as being loving and graceful when machines don’t have feelings at all. The first half of the poem talked about humans and technology coexisting in harmony while the last part focused on being reunited with nature.

In the last stanza, Brautigan describes our environment as a “cybernetic ecology” (20). Cybernetic ecology would be the relationships and interactions between humans and machines. He also states that he would like to be “free of our labors\ and joined back to nature, \ returned to our mammal brothers and sister,” (21-24). Even though we are in an environment surrounded by technology he would like to be able to return to nature and not have to worry about anything. The poem ends with “and all watched over\ by machines of loving grace,” (25-26). I thought the last lines were saying that we praise technology so much that it’s almost as if we need it to live. By saying that they watch over us with loving grace is in a way comparing machines and technology to God. God should be the one we need, not technology in his place in Brautigan’s eyes.

The first two stanzas advocate humans and technology living in harmony amongst each other. Cybernetic meadow, programming harmony and a cybernetic forest filled with pines and electronics are phrases that do not normally go together, but are used in the poem to make technology seem more nature-like. Brautigan also describes a scene where a “deer strolls peacefully\ past computers\ as if they were flowers\ with spinning blossoms,” (14-17) illustrating how great it would be to have technology and nature coexist to that degree.

At the end of the poem, Brautigan makes it sound as if we need to break free from the chains of technology no matter how much we may believe we need it. Throughout the first two-thirds of the poem he talks about how great and amazing it would be to see technology through the same eye we see nature. I believe Richard Brautigan is anti-technology because even though he mentions both sides in his poem, he ends the poem with leaving technology and returning to nature. Even if most of the poem was pro-technology, I think that the ending is what pieces a poem together, allowing you to construct and confirm your analysis of the work and in this case leaving technology and going back to nature.