In the contemporary novel When the Killing's Done, author TC Boyle tells the powerfully relatable story of Alma Boyd Takesue, from her antagonist Dave Lajoy and their attempts to exercise their domination. on the natural world. Set in the Channel Islands off the coast of California, the novel reveals timely themes about Earth's life cycle and how humanity has altered it, for better or worse. Throughout the plot, Alma strives to preserve the island's native ecosystem, while Dave attempts to protect invasive species, but it is nature's response to these actions that exposes the honest thoughts by Boyle on current environmental and social issues. Even though plants and animals don't necessarily control humanity, When the Killing's Done reiterates the idea that every aspect of Earth is meant to work in unison, so that when humans disrupt it, the universe responds . As the symbolic weather conditions and the many characters who suffer extreme trauma at sea demonstrate, man has no dominion over the environment, thus illuminating TC Boyle's theme that the natural order of the world cannot be challenged and attempts by humans to modify it will simply result in self-sabotage. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Boyle's use of weather is constantly used throughout the novel to show that Alma's argument is the good, although it seems immoral, while Dave's surface The national plan to protect animals introduced to the island by humans will further disrupt the ecosystem. When Alma returns to the island after successfully restoring native species, the weather is clearly accommodating to her, as Boyle notes: "She has never seen the channel so smooth." There's not even a hump coming out of Ventura Harbor and at ten o'clock in the morning it's as hot as noon” (359). The weather changes often in the book - in one chapter the sun will be shining and in the next a storm will hit - and it usually depends on which character the plot is focusing on at that time. Boyle uses the weather to subtly convey that Alma is right and Dave is wrong, which is why nature is setting Alma and her crew up for success. Dave, for his part, constantly complains about the bad weather, as Boyle writes: "the vitamin K was dissolving in the rain and he was totally helpless to do anything" (118). It's almost as if the universe is doing everything it can to stop Dave from triumphing, to make the waves choppy so he can't sail, or to destroy the vitamin K tablets he gives to the rats . The rain present when Dave works to achieve his goals represents the control that nature has over man. Dave believes he can regulate the animals on the island, but the environment functions in unexpected ways and is capable of greatly benefiting or harming humans. Beverly's experience when she was lost at sea, as well as the many deaths that have occurred in the ocean, demonstrate that although people's environments can save them in miraculous ways, they can also easily destroy them. When the story of Beverly and her incident at sea is told, Boyle writes: “The universe stopped tilting. The sea collapsed. And she found herself on a path that went steeply up to where the fog began to tear and bleed until it was no longer there at all” (30). This entire passage personifies Beverly's environment as they respond to her situation and eventually.