Hope In The Dark: The Untold History of People Power

Nonfiction | Essay Collection | Adult | Published in 2004

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Foreword-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-13

Chapters 14-21

Chapter 22-Afterword

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapter 22-AfterwordChapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 22 Summary: “Looking Backward: The Extraordinary Achievements of Ordinary People (2009)”

Solnit remembers that New Yorkers’ initial reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the twin towers wasn’t panic but pragmatic collaboration. The distortion that people were terrified—which the media perpetrated—was applied only retrospectively. Solnit recounts the events of the attack and its immediate aftermath, blow by blow, showing that people in the surrounding area did their utmost to help each other. Adam Mayblum, who walked down from the 87th floor of one of the towers with his coworkers, even took to the internet to state that they were calm, that the perpetrators had failed to terrorize them. In Solnit’s view, the terrorizing came instead from the government and media, which promoted a disaster-movie view of the event to justify “their existence as repressive, controlling, hostile forces, rather than collaborators with brave and powerful citizenries” (117).

Solnit imagines that had the calm heroism of September 11 not been followed by government and media distortions and the instruction to be terrified, countless lives could have been saved, both in the US and abroad, in Afghanistan and Iraq—and that trillions of dollars could have been applied to constructive projects rather than handed to war corporations. Solnit notes how in other disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, ordinary citizens were more effective than politicians in rehabilitating residents and the city. In Solnit’s native San Francisco, people gather to commemorate the anniversary of the devastating 1906 earthquake to help remind the community to prepare for future disasters. Such disasters are inevitable, and moments of crisis await us all—and give us the opportunity to gather, learn life-saving practical skills, and exercise our citizenship in a creative and compassionate way.

Chapter 23 Summary: “Everything’s Coming Together While Everything Falls Apart (2014)”

Solnit draws attention to the French Revolution to illustrate how mass change is possible. This revolution overturned the divine right of kings and promoted principles now considered fundamental to liberal democracy. While many believed that the Revolution’s experimental forms of government failed, it succeeded in never again returning to the monarchical absolutism that preceded it.

Using the French Revolution as an example, Solnit states that the urgency of the current climate crisis means that we must make the age of fossil fuel and unchecked capitalism as outdated as the divine right of kings. Solnit writes, “We can’t say it’s impossible, or possible, and what is possible has been changing rapidly” (129), especially as scientists make advances in cleaner fuel technology and grassroots groups campaign to demonstrate against the most polluting policies of governments and big corporations.

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Solnit believes that the climate movement has a place for everyone and that its stakes are far higher than everyday concerns like celebrity gossip or having nice bodies. Rather than being a monolith, the climate movement comprises disparate groups, acting on local issues. While some damage is irreparable, the scale of the damage depends on how many people get involved in the movement and on global, systemic change rather than simply individual lifestyle changes. Although individual lifestyle changes—such as walking instead of driving—can help, only putting pressure on governments to modify policies will effect meaningful change.

Afterword Summary: “Backward and Forward: An Afterword”

In her conclusion, Solnit expressly states that her book is for activists who share her values and “against […] a defeatist, dismissive frame of mind that is far too widespread” (137). She reiterates that people often use defeatism—which is easier than hope—as an excuse to give up a campaign. In fact, Solnit says that during her 2003 tour discussing the theme of hope, she encountered so much fierce opposition from people on her own side that she nicknamed her project “stealing the teddy bear of despair from the loving arms of the left” (138).

She found that those with most to lose and those in more perilous situations had more faith in hope as an essential survival tool than the white middle-class people whose background was like hers. The latter seemed to cling to their own limitations and demand the kind of perfect solutions that an imperfect world can never deliver. They’re unable to celebrate small victories and see activism as a work in progress rather than a destination. Instead, Solnit argues that the way forward is being able to talk about the exact scale of devastation while celebrating the small wins that enable us to pursue the possibility of a better world.

Chapter 22-Afterword Analysis

In her final chapters, Solnit shows how everything we need to create a better world is already within us and is evident in specific examples of human behavior—for example, the pragmatic, lifesaving calmness of those near ground zero on 9/11. She points out that had people panicked, the loss of life on that day would have been far higher—and that the government and media’s incitement of subsequent panic contributed to far more destruction via the Iraq war. She imagines that had the incident’s original spirit of calm cooperativeness continued, history might have turned out for the better, as the US might have avoided an expensive and unwinnable war and thousands of Iraqi and American lives might have been saved.

In addition, she points out that history has shown how once-unthinkable feats, such as the complete overthrow of absolutist monarchy in the French Revolution, are possible. The drama of this change provides a fitting metaphor for the swift reversal of unchecked capitalism and fossil-fuel consumption necessary to prevent the worst climate degradation. While some may grow lethargic at the thought of doing anything when climate change is inevitable, Solnit shows that hope has been the tool of many people who have suffered the most in the past and have campaigned for a better, if still imperfect, future. She cites a Cambodian survivor, who said, “‘If I had not hoped, I would not have struggled. And if I had not struggled, I would not have survived Pol Pot’” (138). Thus, hope isn’t a whimsical luxury to be saved for a nonexistent time when the world is more perfect, but something essential for rising above the worst degradation. Solnit emphasizes that we all need to hope and struggle against climate change—a battle that will determine our present and future. Collectively, our actions and attitudes can shape the darkness of the future into a possibly better one.