Countless Worlds, One Sphere

Squarzoni introduces this segment of the book by simply showing himself sitting on the grass on a nice summer day. But, he also describes the faint echoes of bombs falling not so far away. Through these scenes, he is able to convey the idea of this small, compact world, separated by the ever-prominent separation of distance. Something significant may be taking place in history, while, because you are not physically present to experience the event as your own, you find yourself staring at the sky, immersed in the trivial conflicts that plague your own life. This, I thought, reflected the core of the struggle to reduce climate change. So many people are not directly experiencing the consequences hat have already taken place, that it’s exceedingly easy to ignore and forget it all. And maybe it’s not entirely our fault. All of us do have other matters that more presently concern us at certain points in time. All of us do have our own worries and qualms that seem to encompass our lives. We’re all wrapped in our own little spheres of vanity that we often forget that we’re all part of a bigger sphere- a sphere that encompasses us all. All of our tears, and smiles, our failures and triumphs; they’re all held in this one little sphere. A three dimensional circle that we too often forget to treasure.

A few scenes that really struck me were the ones on pages 148-149, where Squarzoni takes us to this home, and with each frame, slowly backs away. One of the lines read, “The clock is ticking. And time is running out.” This was a very sad notion, to realize that everything that we once knew will eventually fade away. The innocence of an unaware time will pass. There is no going back. However, I was also very excited to see that Squarzoni finally lets us have a little taste of hope. He finishes this scene saying that “a new story is beginning,” and continues this idea onto the next few pages. He shows the journey going through a dark tunnel, and takes us through its equally dark path. But for once he shows the bright prospect of a new world, waiting for us once we finally emerge. It was a bit daunting, however, because the one question that remains is, will we make it through to see the end?

But, of course, as the story goes on, Squarzoni comes back to his novel approach, and continues to hammer us with the bleak realities of our current situation. On pages 154-155, he shows different parts of the world, and describes how they will be affected. These few scenes show the broad and diverse effects that will take place due to climate control. He also includes this absolutely devastating drawing of dead and withered away cattle on drought-stricken land. This was an especially heartbreaking picture because it shows how the innocent, uninvolved creatures will also suffer from our actions. It made me realize that I don’t even know what we’re doing anymore. What are we trying to accomplish with our major manufactures? Who are we trying to impress with our fancy gas-guzzling cars? Where are we even trying to go?