The Country of Pointed Firs

I find the emphasis on nature in this text to be especially interesting. Even before we are introduced to any characters, we are given a description of the town. It's a small town full of houses with ocean views. The firs from the title are mentioned many times through out the first two chapters. I wonder what this emphasis on the natural coinciding with the small town means in the larger context of the novel. Mrs. Todd herself is quite interesting. She harnesses the natural world for healing purposes, yet she lives in close contact with the doctor of the village and they have a close friendship. There is a sense of balance in this setting and it's characters. Nature doesn't conflict with the town and the town doesn't conflict with nature. At least, not yet anyway. Even when the captain is telling his story, it has an emphasis on exploration. The details and descriptions given about the exploration of the North remind me of Frankenstein in a way. It gives me this feeling that there is something beyond the natural world. Or perhaps, something that the natural world is hiding from man. I can't draw any conclusions or make any guess as to what all this nature could mean because we are not that far yet. I'll be interested to see where this story goes.