Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

authors note: In this response to Pilgrim at Tinker Creek I tried to relate how peoples life experiences can change their maturity level and their thoughts on life itself. Also I tried to say how when we're young and immature it seems that we take everything for granted. Even though this is a short piece, I think it's pretty good.

  

Experience

In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard brings up maturity, having experience with difficult decisions and struggles go hand in hand with peoples maturity level. When your young and immature you take things for granted without even realizing it, teenagers use their parents but hardly take time to appreciate all they do for them. To some people what are necessities for them are privileges to others, the rich get expensive clothes, food, and houses while the poor have to beg for scraps and have trouble finding a shelter. Different experiences change a person and their thoughts on life, which is what makes us unique.

Nature

Authors note: This response was redone because the first version felt like an assignment and didn't really have any meaning to it. The new version of the response to Annie Dillard's first chapter Pilgrim at Tinker Creek discusses the symbolism and similarities between nature and our lives.  

In the first chapter of the book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek it opens as the main character describing how she used to sleep with the window open, allowing a tomcat to come in. Since the cat left bloody paw prints on her, blood symbolizing life and the paw of a cat acting similar to the hand of an animal shows where it has been, she has kept the window closed because of fear. When she sleeps with the window open she is opening herself up to nature but when she closes it, it has the opposite effect.

Later on she talks about it smelling of urine and blood, she described it as the blood covering her like roses but the urine smelling foul. Both of these substances are from nature, almost describing nature itself about how it is beautiful but violent and gruesome.

authors note: This piece was written based off of Annie Dillard's book "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek". In this chapter of the book called "Seeing", she asks the question how do you know that what you see, other people are seeing the exact same thing.


Seeing

I see

through the blackness

A bright light emerges into sight

Finally I'm able to see everything that you see

What do you see?

The colors red, blue, green

To me are purple, pink, and black

I can't see what you see

I see

Ocean waves crashing on the shore

White foam on the edge of each wave

I walk the beach, leaving only a footprint in my path

What do you see?

The ocean waves crashing

To me that is a meadow, filled with daisies and tulips

I have a different perspective on the world

The things I see are different,

Exact opposite of you

How can you be sure that what you see, I see?



Betrayal


authors note: For this post I decided to write about a subject that our support group had trouble analyzing. Annie Dillard talks about the violent nature that we usually don't ever think about, her metaphor of it made me think about how there is nature in our life.


In chapter 4 of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard shows the reality of nature, that it is violent and cruel with just as much sadness as there is happiness. A praying mantis after mating decapitates the males head then devours it, this relates to human life with betrayal. At some point in everyone's life they will be betrayed whether it be with love, friendship, or family. Another perspective on praying mantises lifestyle could be that we sometimes hate the ones we love. Frustration, lies, and immaturity all affect us and we take out our anger on the ones we love or they could be the cause of all our frustration. Early on our parents try to prepare us for the real world, hoping that we won't make the same mistakes as they did. They try to make us ready for betrayal, but can we really be ready for that type of pain, without the pain in life we wouldn't really be living.