Authority

Conflict between authority and humans and environment comes to a climax in many of the stories in Site Fidelity. Norah, for example, takes action against Henson, when he denies her the ability to count the grouse on the land. Similar to many other stories, the authoritative figure -- in this case Henson -- does not recognize value in the environment with the same intensity of the main character. Norah, as a result, must take matters into her own hands, dumping Henson’s fuel to prevent burning the sagebrush. However, Norah’s actions witness the same fate as many others in the book: she is one person battling against a prominent ideology equipped with much more ammunition. This theme is continued in “Early Warning Systems” when Mano attempts to raise alarm at the fish kills. Not only is she the only one concerned, but even when she...