set moods, such as this scene where he uses a description of the world around Oliver and Susan to make the atmosphere a bit more somber and serious. ?The trees on the crest - redwoods, Oliver said ? burned for a few seconds and went black. Eastward down the plunging mountainside the valley fumed with dust that was first red, then rose, then purple, then mauve, then gray, and finally soft black.? (Stegner 90) He uses the deepening color shades to justify Susan shivering, and the more serious conversation that followed, as well as allowed him to have Lyman discuss his heritage without sounding trite or lewd as he discussed being made possible that night.No matter where one looks in this literature, it is an inevitable fact that nature is an ever-present subject. The environment in which each story was written simply will not allow a writer to put blinders on in order to ignore it. The difference comes when one sees the way the subject is approached. Which is the better portrayal of reality? In the west, are we like fish in our bowl, oblivious to the nature around us? Or are we overwhelmed by the sheer power of the nature, or perhaps do we wish to sit and perform a sort of informal prayer because of our religious sensibilities, which we attach to the west. Perhaps we are merely influenced at key points in our lives by the beauty of earth.Despite the opinions of many others on this wonderful earth, I would venture to say that it is all of the aforementioned things in this literature that we draw from the wonders of nature, especially that of the beautiful west. We are all impacted a little bit in each of these manners, hopefully providing a better understanding of the west, and a desire to preserve its beauty....
