Aldo Leopold’s “On a Monument to the Pigeon”

The essay begins immediately by stating that we are here to grieve the loss of the pigeons. In the second paragraph I thought there was a captivating comparison between nature and humans when it was mentioned that both man and the tree would remember the pigeon in their youth. I also thought it was interesting how Leopold draws attention humans mourning the loss of the pigeons juxtaposed to pigeons mourning the loss of humans. At this point in the essay it is not particularly clear to the reader why we should be mourning the loss of the pigeons. After the sixth paragraph the tone and purpose of the essay slightly changes from grief to informing and honoring.

            The idea of the plaque being placed is an interesting one. Leopold begins to make sure people are aware that is it humans fault that the bird has gone extinct in the first place. He also questions so what gives us the right to honor it. Leopold finds himself doubting the convictions of older generations to kill the bird because of the grief he has that it is now extinct.

            The line that I found most thought provoking in the essay was “Tourists will read this inscription, but their thoughts will have no wings.” I thought that this was a very true statement. How often do people hear a call to action on a social justice issue and they choose to be bystanders. People don’t like to face complicated things like doubt and grieving. So the pigeon will remain extinct and birds in the future may face a similar fate due to the lack of lessons learned and lack of action taken.

            I liked the ending to the essay. I thought it took away some of grieving and brought us to honoring the pigeon. The whole essay reminded me of a eulogy.