Why do you think Powers leads with the story of the chestnut trees?

Why do you think Powers leads with the story of the chestnut trees?

Perhaps because of the blight that wiped out the vast majority of American Chestnut trees in the early 1900's, symbolizing the blight on the environment that is currently under way.

I agree with Paulak. I also think that the American chestnut story serves as an example of determined ecological resilience and also contributes to the closing message. Despite the introduction of blight and failed attempts to control the utter decimation of this once dominant species, Brinkman’s tree grows in the story, and sprouts STILL attempt to grow from stumps today.

Another point he might have meant to convey was the economic and ecological impact of the loss of the chestnut trees. The loss of the chestnut fruit as a food source for animals resulted in a drastic decrease in the squirrel population as well as the extinction of seven native moth species, and the slow recovery of deer, Cooper's hawk, cougar, and bobcats population. It also was linked to the decrease to cavity-nesting birds as well as a decrease in river water quality which negatively affected aquatic invertebrate populations. On the human side of this issue is the economic loss to people who depended on the chestnut tree for their livelihood such as mountaineers and residents of Appalachian communities. His point maybe is that we are all linked together in one way or another.

It seemed obviously symbolic to me - for the reasons stated above by paulak, Andrea, and renem - all very insightfully stated, I believe.

renew - wow, thanks for that info - wish it had been in the book! I had understood the economic effect of the loss of the lumber from the Chestnut tree, but the domino effect is something we just don't really think about - or learn about. This domino effect is the scary aspect of all the logging and plantation planting we see now.

I think the Chestnut tree was so important to the settlement of North America and the ability of early settlers to survive in the country they conquered.

In addition to the comments above, I believe it serves as a warning to remind us that we are not really in control. All efforts to end the virus have failed. We cannot believe that we are so powerful that we can push nature to the brink and then deftly snatch the natural world back from disaster. Only a robustly healthy natural world has a guaranteed future and even then small disasters and extinctions will occur. Our current stressed out natural world with many species in distress is extremely vulnerable.

The chestnut tree was the perfect tree to begin with because of all the reasons listed above and very symbolic of it's place in history.

Anything I would say to answer this question would be redundant. So many contributed so much wonderful information about the relevance of the chestnut tree.

I felt that the author started with the American Chestnut story to show the hope this country gave to the 19th century immigrants and how that hope was nurtured and grew. I think he also wanted to show that an innocent misstep such as bringing the Chinese Chestnut in could have disastrous ramifications. This chapter truly broke my heart; both for the trees and the family.