Over and over again, in a multitude of forms, Abbey is confronted with the overwhelming power and magnificence of nature. It moves him to ecstasies and praises. This emotion–the awe and gratitude that nature inspires in Abbey—is the lifeblood of the book. Abbey sees in nature an overarching intelligence and an unfathomable but grand design, in contrast to which the agendas and desires of human beings appear trivial and unworthy. Even in its fiercest, most frightening aspects, nature moves Abbey to great reverence and delight.

Despite all the things that human beings might naturally find frightening or unpleasant in nature–death, decay, violence, harshness–Abbey views nature as one vast harmonious symphony, staggering in its beauty and unfathomable in its depths. At one point in the book, he describes how all the desert creatures drink in turn at the desert waterholes in the night, obeying a temporary “truce” between predator and prey. This emblemizes the unity and cooperation within the natural world.

Whether it be in the form of new roads, dams or–perhaps worst of all–attractions constructed for human amusement, Abbey sees the sacred wilderness being despoiled by the encroachment of modern culture with its technology and its fetish for superficial stimulations and comforts.