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Man, however much he may like to pretend the contrary, is part of nature. Can he escape a pollution that is now so thoroughly distributed throughout our world?

This quote occurs in the opening paragraphs of Chapter 12, which outlines the effects that pesticides have on humans. Here, Carson shifts her attention to documenting the havoc pesticides wreck on human life, arguing that, though humanity may believe it has conquered nature, this arrogant belief is a false one. Humans are just as much a part of the natural world as the birds, insects, fishes, and plants that pesticides have destroyed or permanently maimed. As such, people are not safe from the harmful impact of chemical pesticides, and concern about these pesticides is thus a matter of human self-preservation.

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