Leiningen Versus the Ants

“The human brain needs only to become fully aware of its powers to conquer even the elements. Dullards reeled senselessly and aimlessly into the abyss; cranks, however brilliant, lost their heads when circumstances suddenly altered or accelerated and ran into stone walls [….] But such disasters, Leiningen contended, merely strengthened his argument that intelligence […] invariably makes man the master of his fate.”

Before confronting the ants, Leiningen believes that his rational powers give him autonomy over nature. He disparagingly views those who cannot summon those powers, calling them “dullards” and “cranks.” He embodies the Victorian view that a man can do anything through discipline, overlooking the role that things out of one’s control can play in determining outcomes.

“Yes, Leiningen had always known how to grapple with life. Even here, in this Brazilian wilderness, his brain had triumphed over every difficulty and danger it had so far encountered [….] And now he was sure he would prove more than a match for the ‘irresistible’ ants.”

Leiningen has always valorized his competence. His ability to create a plantation within the “Brazilian wilderness,” thereby shaping the land to fit his own needs, causes him to underestimate the ants. They are, in fact, “irresistible” to him, meaning that he regards them only as another challenge through which he can prove how capable he is.

“It was a sight one could never forget. Over the range of hills, as far as the eye could see, crept a darkening hem, ever longer and broader, until the shadow spread across the slope from east to west […] and all the green herbage of that wide vista was being mown as by a giant sickle, leaving only the vast moving shadow, extending, deepening, and moving rapidly nearer.” 

Here, when introducing the ants, Stephenson creates an atmosphere of suspense. They take on a supernatural quality, signaling the entrance of an evil force. He likens them to a shadow and foreshadows their destruction of the plantation by describing how their dark presence seems to mow down “the green herbage,” as though with “a giant sickle.”