The Two Perspectives

Richard Brautigan’s poem "All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace" can be seen as having a pro-technology tone and message. In the first strophe, Brautigan begins to create a utopia where technology and nature coexist peacefully with each other. He plays with two juxtaposing ideas using phrases, such as, “a cybernetic meadow” in line 3 and “live together in mutually/ programming harmony” in lines 5 and 6 to promote the possibility of the perfect utopia. He continues to use the same juxtaposition between the two ideas in strophe 2 and 3 in order to maintain a pro-technology tone throughout the entire poem. Brautigan also employs figurative language to emphasize his pro-technology tone. The simile at the end of the first strophe compares the relationship between mammals and computers to “pure water touching clear sky”. The imagery gives an insight into Brautigan’s opinion of technology; he believes the two elements can work perfectly together. The adjectives he uses to describe water and sky also emphasize his view on technology and nature. Both of the adjectives “pure” and “clear” have a positive connotation and therefore Brautigan, once again, shows that nature cannot ruin the beauty of technology nor can technology ruin the beauty of nature.

The same literal devices that Brautigan employed to create a pro-technology tone could also be interpreted to create an anti-technology tone. Both the juxtaposition and the figurative language found throughout the poem have a sarcastic and satirical underline. The juxtaposing phrases in the third line of each strophe propose almost make the reader laugh because the two opposing ideas presented would never be able to coexist mutually together in one domain. When one thinks of computers and electronics, a mental picture of meadow or a forest never follows. When the Industrial Revolution hit Britain, preserving nature wasn’t a thought that followed after.  Brautigan also arranges the juxtaposing ideas in the third line of each strophe in a specific order. In the first strophe, he mentions a “cybernetic meadow” (3). In the next strophe he uses a different setting, a “cybernetic forest” (11). In the final strophe, Brautigan jumps to the extreme and uses a “cybernetic ecology” (19) setting. As each strophe progresses, the area of where technology becomes dominant also progresses, until technology takes over the entire ecology. And the similes just continue to contribute to the sarcasm and satire. The sarcasm and the satire found throughout the poem create a sly but persistent anti-technology tone.

After reading the poem dozens of times and analyzing it from both perspectives, I believe the anti-technology theme is more convincing when one knows the context of the period when Brautigan wrote this poem and the type of poems that he generally writes. But when looking at the poem without any background knowledge, I would have to say that the pro-technology tone is more appealing just because his idea is so farfetched. And the juxtaposition and figurative language prompt the reader to see the poem as having a pro-technology message and tone by creating a constant feeling of harmony between technology and nature throughout the poem.