A Critical Review of Loren Eiseley: The Limitation of Mankind.
Through the passing of time Homo sapiens have been "in control" for a relatively minuscule era. Man has evolved throughout this era by creating new technologies and civilizations. Today many of our everyday dealings are riddled with complex equations and intricate thought processes. What allows a person to deal with such a life is the Mind. The Mind is with out a doubt the most complex part of a person, and it is the sole reason why one has the freedom of choice. Other animals don't have the same type of brain as a human; therefore animals are considered generally not to have this freedom of thought. Man has tried to take control over their destiny and take control over nature, leaving everything else to their mercy. Loren Eiseley wrote about this back in the mid 1900's when he wrote the book, The Immense Journey. In this book he takes us throughout time and imagination to bring us a sense of evolution and of the human Mind. The chapters give the reader of a sense of a curse that is direct result of this great Mind and its limitations; moreover, as the Mind is limited so is mankind. This is what makes the journey or evolution so immense and almost impossible.
Eiseley spent much of his time digging up bones or being by himself. Time spent like this leaves a man with little option than to reflect upon life and its significances. He looked at nature with a scientific but imaginative view. He uses a poetic like language to describe his accounts that seems to suck a reader into his mind. After being sucked in, the reader comes out with a unique view of the situation.
In the first essay "The Slit", Eiseley entered a crack in the crust of the Earth. While down in the deeps he examines a skull of an unknown creature that dates far back in time before man. After coming out he reflects on the Slit as a representation of time and its lack of control by man.
