The American Dream In Annie Dillard's Living Like Weasels

Euripides, a famous writer of tragedies in Ancient Greece, stated, “Nothing has more strength than dire necessity (“Euripides”).” Annie Dillard, Pulitzer Prize recipient, shares this theme in her non-fiction narrative “Living Like Weasels.” Through the production of non-fiction narrative essays, paintings, poetry, and books, she influences her audiences. In “Living Like Weasels,” she compares the behavior of humans and animals. The essay questions the meaning of life and establishes the theme of necessity in contrast to the American Dream. In “Living Like Weasels,” Dillard encounters a weasel while enjoying the serenity of Hollis Pond in Virginia. During this meeting, she has an epiphany when, “Our eyes locked, and someone threw away the

Although she asks the question, she already knows the answer through her observations and research. She journeys to the pond to enjoy the creature that lives in "mindlessness” and she describes it as “something of the purity of living in the physical sense and the dignity of living without bias or motive" (“LIVING”). Then, she explains that the weasel stays focused on the task at hand and strives to complete it with his whole being; he is solely motivated to perform the job that is paramount for survival. Also, she states, "The weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice" (“LIVING”). Hence, she implies that humankind chooses things that he wants and gets things in excess, but never realizes a fulfilling life. In paragraph fifteen, Dillard asserts that society should live like the wild animal with a “mute” and “uncomprehending” lifestyle where it lives carefree in its den for a couple of days (“LIVING”). Moreover, humanity anxiously cares about the future and wastes time being concerned about what might happen. On the other hand, the weasel never considers this, and he instinctively lives embracing the

Metaphorically, she depicts the steer as “they look like miracle itself” (“LIVING”). Then, she describes “miracle’s nonchalance” (“LIVING”). Not only does she purport that nature miraculously exists, but it also is unconcerned in its awesomeness. Furthermore, the fifth paragraph expounds upon this contrast by utilizing phrases such as “highway at one end of the pond,” symbolizing man versus “a nesting pair of wood ducks at the other,” representing the natural world (“LIVING”). Likewise, the bushes contain man’s polluting beer cans and muskrat holes which reveal the opposing sides whereby humanity disrupts its beautiful surroundings. Additionally, the motorcycle tracks in the woods interfere with the habitat of the animals. As a result, mankind forces wild turtles to lay their eggs on the clay where motorbikes frequently ride. These negative connotations add to the argument stated by Dillard in favor of the lifestyle of the weasel, and it shows the unfocused, selfish view of humankind in everyday life. She states that the weasel is "open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything" (“LIVING”). On the other hand, man, who will also die, remains oblivious to the splendor of the environment. In "Living Like Weasels," Dillard provides interesting information about the weasel and its habitat. Utilizing imagery, she creates vivid pictures,