"Anecdote of the Jar" by Wallace Stevens represents a struggle with knowledge. With the many advances in today's society, it can sometimes be hard to believe that after spending the majority of our life receiving an education, there is so much we still do not know. Never will there be a person that knows everything there is to know, it is impossible. It would be a wasteful life to live, determined to be the most educated in an attempt to be superior. Life should be lived accepting that each individual only knows what they have experienced, and to keep learning and using the best of one's knowledge. .
Knowledge is a gift that separates the human race from the wild. It makes us feel superior and in control of our world. Without knowledge, we are still wild. Stevens uses the wild to represent humanity without knowledge. Human nature gives us the need to always learn and grow. "It made the slovenly wilderness Surround that hill." When the jar was placed on a hill in Tennessee, the wilderness surrounded the hill. When presented with knowledge, the opportunity to intellectually grow is usually taken for granted. We are always learning, whether it is a new trade for a job or how to be a better parent. Skills for a job, formal education, and social skills are all a part of what helps our mind grow and set us apart from the wild.
Mankind's quest for knowledge has been astoundingly beneficial to mankind, yet in many ways detrimental to the environment. The primitive man only needed to know how to find his food, and his world was unexplored. Today vacant land and other resources are scarce and we are still determined to improve technologies that are already taken for granted. The quest for knowledge has resulted in the highly developed and complex world we live in today, yet it has caused us to take advantage of our ecosystem. Wallace Steven's poem says, "The wilderness rose up to it, And sprawled around, no longer wild.