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The contrast of the urban and the rural life presented in the prologue was very interesting to me. Cronon writes that he wouldn’t have had such a passion for his rural life, had he not hated Chicago so much. This also feeds into his argument that we need to study the history of Chicago in context to its’ geography, because the study of history is not a study of separate, disconnected events. There are connections between events, and understanding the growth and urbanization of Chicago is made easier when we see the progression of the surrounding areas of the MidWest, and how they interact with one another. This idea is also reflected when @ploopy1 wrote, “I never looked at how important the rural countryside played in the development of the industrious city side”. As we study the history of Chicago in relation to its surroundings and all the sacrifices that have been made, it makes me appreciate the state that Chicago is in now, how developed and prosperous it is.
I also found that the idea of the “cloud over Chicago” was very interesting. That cloud visually represents the smog that hovers over the city as a result of its industrial pollution, but also represents the feeling of eminent gloom that those like Cronon, who do not like the city, feel when approaching. I myself am more in favor of less urbanized places, and I very much understand this feeling of gloom and dread whenever I near Los Angeles. However, just as it is helpful to study the history of Chicago in context to its rural surroundings, it is helpful to study and appreciate the rural history in context of nearby cities.