Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, written by Annie Dillard, is a novel based on the writers curiousness about the mystery of God and the world which surrounds her. She is truly baffled by the thought of God and the way his world seems to be evolving. Dillards novel encompasses two main themes. Her first theme is actually a brilliant question; Dillard wonders how there can be a loving and caring God when he has created such a brutal environment. Her second theme is based on the idea that in every aspect of life, both good and bad, there is beauty to be seen. Dillard struggles through the novel in search of factual answers to her questions and proof of a loving and caring God. Annie Dillard relies much on her senses, one particular one being sight. She emphasizes that living life fully, means that each and every person must see beauty in " But the artificial obvious is hard to see... I see what I expect." (p.18) In many of Dillards passages, she uses animals and nature to convey har messages. The author desperately searches for some rational explanation of why man kills man, why man kills animal, and why animal kills animal. She searches for the answer to the theory of "survival of the fittest" and questions why God would allow such inhumane acts. He created this world and is continuously destroying it, and for what reason(s)? According to Dillard, it is virtually impossible to believe in a God that is unseen by her eyes and causes so much pain and distruction. She wants to believe that her God would do no harm and only promote positive actions and consequences, but in fact he does the opposite. Her desirable vision of God is difficult to conjure up,due to the fact that his actions are so Another of Dillards passages reflects her feelings of this cruel world which our "The universe that suckled us is a monster that does not care if we live or die - does not care if itself grinds to a halt. It is fixed and blind, a robot programmed to kill. We are free and seeing, we can only try to outwit it at every turn to save our Dillard conveys here, that the world we are born into is constantly trying to erase us from existence. This proves to Dillard that we as humans mean nothing to nature. We are only small, tiny objects that take up space and do nothing for the earth. We survive primarily by destroying eachother and even ourselves. Not to mention that if and when we do die, since only being such a small part, we would not individually be missed. Through all this, how then can there be a supreme being that is loving, caring and nurturing, when he constructs living beings and creatures to destruct what lives and breathes around them? Dillard seems to desperately try to conjure up reasons to accept God and the way he has created his world, even though killing is an act he has designed. " Of course, many carnivorous animals devour their prey alive. The usual method seems to be to subdue the victim by drowning or grasping it so it can't flee, then eating it whole or in a series of bloody bites. Frogs eat everything whole, stuffing prey into their mouths with their thumbs. People have seen frogs with their wide jaws so full of live dragonflies they couldn't close them. Ants don't even have to catch their prey; in the spring they swarm over newly hatched, featherless birds in the nest and eat them tiny Dillard wants to believe that a God who cares for the future of his creation, would not choose to have his world destroyed. God should be a entity to look up to and thank for all the good in the world, not to look down upon and be angry at for all the bad in the world She implies that finding God, the loving man that cares deeply for each creature and the world he has created, means to search for the true beauty in each and every circumstance life has to offer. Whether it be a death or a birth, there will always be a beautiful vision to see. No one or nothing should be wasted in life. Each living , breathing creature in this universe should be significant, important and meaningful, not to mention Dillard expresses that believing in God means to believe in him solely, which may not be possible. If someone chooses to believe in God they want to find him perfectly flawless , but a God who creates pain and suffering could not be perfect. It is then that in order to trust in a ultimate God, we must see the beauty in all the ways in which he works. The author suggests that by viewing the world from a newborns fresh perspective, we can see the beauty in every aspect of life. " In general the newly sighted see the world as a dazzle of color She describes seeing through the fresh eyes of a child and because they are so young, they fully live in the present. Simply by living in the present, the view is much more beautiful. As soon as one begins to focus on the future, beauty is not as awesome, thus making the individual bored and unable to focus on the beauty. Dillards themes are more than just the major points of the book to her. She is searching for the reasons why her world and its' creator are not perfect. Dillard focuses on beauty and hopes that she can better understand God and his mysterious ways. She emphasizes the idea that every action has beauty in it and we should all take the time to look at the world from a fresh point of view. Bibliography: Word Count: 1007
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.