McRae is the superintendent of Arches National Monument; he’s a thin, middle-aged family man with a gentle demeanor and a background in cattle ranching. An effective park ranger who dislikes the paperwork aspects of the job, McRae welcomes Abbey to the park on his first day and provides him with supplies, briefly reappearing near the end of the book to help search for a dead photographer. Though intelligent and concerned for the earth, McRae is resigned to the inevitable development of the U.S.’s national parks. McRae warns of these coming changes, but readers get the impression that Abbey’s outrage is far stronger than his. Further, it seems that that Abbey hopes to awaken potentially complacent figures in McRae’s position into decisive action against development.
Merle McRae Quotes in Desert Solitaire
The Desert Solitaire quotes below are all either spoken by Merle McRae or refer to Merle McRae. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Solitaire
Quotes
The odor of burning juniper is the sweetest fragrance on the face of the earth, in my honest judgment; I doubt if all the smoking censers of Dante’s paradise could equal it. One breath of juniper smoke, like the perfume of sagebrush after rain, evokes in magical catalysis, like certain music, the space and light and clarity and piercing strangeness of the American West.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Desert Solitaire LitChart as a printable PDF.
Merle McRae Quotes in Desert Solitaire
The Desert Solitaire quotes below are all either spoken by Merle McRae or refer to Merle McRae. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Solitaire
Quotes
The odor of burning juniper is the sweetest fragrance on the face of the earth, in my honest judgment; I doubt if all the smoking censers of Dante’s paradise could equal it. One breath of juniper smoke, like the perfume of sagebrush after rain, evokes in magical catalysis, like certain music, the space and light and clarity and piercing strangeness of the American West.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
