Analysis Of Annie Dillard s Living Like Weasels

Annie Dillard’s essay â€Å"Living Like Weasels† exhibits the mindless, unbiased, and instinctive ways she proposes humans should live by observing a weasel at a nearby pond close to her home. Dillard encounters about a sixty second gaze with a weasel she seems to entirely connect with. In turn, this preludes a rapid sequence of questions and propositions about â€Å"living as we should†. Unfortunately, we tend to consume our self with our surroundings and distractions in life, which is not a problem until we are blatantly told. How have we strayed so far from our once instinctive lifestyle? The idea of â€Å"living as we should† or living in purity and necessity can be quite impressionistic, especially if viewed in the correct way. Dillard begins her†¦show more content†¦Dillard never fully states how or why she has decided to adopt this quality she learned from an animal, but instead discusses the topic more broadly in order for the idea to have more expansive applications. When discussing purity, necessity, and persistency, Dillard states, â€Å"I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you.† Not defining her necessity in life or the necessity she believes we should grasp tightly to, directly contributes to the intricacy of this essay. This statement could make her audience think, â€Å"How could I relate this to my life?† One could relate this idea to relationships in general, spiritual relationships, or relationships with themselves. The possibilities are endless. Dillard has used her personal experiences to communicate a compelling message of â€Å"living as we should†. In some ways, David Searcy also uses these methods to indirectly portray these thoughts of â€Å"living in the moment† in his essay â€Å"The Hudson River School.† Uncovering the title of Searcy’s essay is substantial in order to find meaning. The Hudson River School was a mid-nineteenth century American art movement by landscape painters whose aesthetic views were influenced by romanticism. A story about the death of a bothersome coyote prevails, but the same idea of connection to the world—rather than ourShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Annie Dillard s Living Like Weasels1413 Words   |  6 PagesRhetorical Analysis Essay Annie Dillard’s â€Å"Living Like Weasels† details Dillard’s encounter with a weasel in the wild, and her attempts to come to terms with her feelings about said meeting. Dillard not only goes into great detail about the experience itself, but she also provides a very good background on weasels, as well as others’ experiences with the animal. 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