All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace

All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace is a poem by Richard Brautigan that talks about the combination of nature and technology. This poem could be portrayed as being very anti-technology. Richard mixes the two together, and I feel they are very opposite of each other and shouldn't be combined. In this world that has been made up, “Deer stroll peacefully past computers as if they were flowers with spinning blossoms.” To me, this line makes no sense at all. Deer would not just walk past computers as if nothing was abnormal. Brautigan is illustrating a very unrealistic world that makes no sense at all. He is combining animals and computers, which make no sense at all. To me this shows a very anti-technology approach because mammals are meant to be natural, not completely infested with technology.

This poem can also be seen as pro-technology. Richard Brautigan mixes technology and mammals together, which is exactly how life is today. “I like to think (and the sooner the better!) of a cybernetic meadow.” Brautigan is being very for technology in this line. He is saying that he likes thinking of cybernetic meadows and would like to see this meadow come to life soon. Although some parts of the poem may not make complete sense, the overall message is that the author would like to see a cybernetic world. In this world, mammals and technology could work together as one and live in peace. “I like to think (it has to be!) of a cybernetic ecology.”

Although both interpretations of the poem can make sense, I think that Richard Brautigan is going for a more pro-technology stance. To me he seemed hopeful and excited for technology and the world to change. He wants life to be different, infested with technology and ruined by lack of nature.