The Deer at Providencia
The speaker's response to the deer's situation is what we found most essential of it all. In the first place, she didn't do much anything but stare at what was occuring to the defensless creature. The Americans and herself "watched [the deer] for fifteen minutes," while it struggled, but she didn't even budge. Though most readers would interpret her as a hardhearted individual, we think oppositely. The fact that she did nothing about it doesn't necessarily mean that she doesn't care, but that she cares even more. Rather than having to express her personal feelings through dramatic actions, the speaker actually takes it to the heart and mind to reflect upon instead. As one of the Americans confessed his wife would "move
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Despite the fact that the setting is also in the jungle, the scope is the motif: seeing. “Seeing” repeatedly used to emphasis how human senses uses deception to hide the “truth”. Dillard’s description of the gruesome treatment towards the deer and the tasty meal that she had, is an idea of deception. “At any rate, I heard that the village dogs had cornered another deer just yesterday , and it was this deer which we were now eating in full sight of the whole article.” describes the gruesome act and the delicious taste of the deer at the same time. Dillard’s comment, “It was good”, after tasting implicates human senses’ ability to hide the “gruesome truth” from the human’s “conscious” mind. The Deer at Providencia is a great essay that includes the ideas: law of nature and human flaws. Annie Dillard has converted many of her own ideas and perspectives within the essay, forcing readers to think more deeply into what she is trying to implicate. It is a great pleasure reading the work of Annie Dillard.
The primary theme throughout the piece is that of the mystery of suffering, of pain and sorrow, and of its universality. People from all walks of life must endure it, money has no weight in its