Analysis Of Annie Dillard 's ' The Wild ' Weasel '

I would like to live in a civilization where the human’s only option is to reach beyond what is to be expected, living a life that is easiest for them. If we were all to live like the weasel does, where their mind set is to be wild it will benefit us in the long run. In “Living Like Weasels,” Annie Dillard interprets that being wild is to be free: to go after your calling, focused on the need to succeed. She also suggests that mindlessness, is not allowing anything to get in the way of your one true goal, where chasing after your dream is your only option, the only means to your own

Annie Dillard’s “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. Through her use of background analysis on weasels, as well as with her own experience, Dillard uses the three rhetorical appeals to argue why we humans could and should “live like weasels”.

The tone in the excerpt of “Live Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard is one that is reflective and optimistic. In this, she tells us what she’s learned from her experience of the an encounter with the a weasel. This is proven in the first paragraph of the excerpt, “I can learn from a wild animal...something of mindlessness, something from the purity of living in the physical sense and the dignity of living without bias or motive.” It Dillard shows us complete her reflection on what we, as people, can gain from learning about the habits of animals, and that she’s clearly thought about it. This is even more so further evident in paragraph two when she questions reasons with herself, “Could two live under the wild rose...as received and unchallenged

In "Living like Weasels", author Annie Dillard uses rhetorical devices to convey that life would be better lived solely in a physical capacity, governed by "necessity", executed by instinct. Through Dillard 's use of descriptive imagery to indulge her audience, radical comparisons of nature and civilization, and anecdotal evidence, this concept is ultimately conveyed.

Accepting only the best decisions in life is not always the right choice. Experiencing new things can increase people’s knowledge, and become someone of new and different value during their time in this world. They are able to obtain something that everyone will cherish when they face horrific situations, and overcome it. With all those successes, people are then given the chance to go down a new road. The change may be good, or may even be something terrible, but in the end, people will become their own person with a unique mindset of things. Taking opportunities can lead to positive or negative change.

Nowadays, it seems that we are too busy making a living that we tend to forget how to make a meaningful life. We are all dreaming of some magical things will happen instead of enjoying a beautiful little thing happens around us. The main thing is we don’t know if we will wake up tomorrow when we go to sleep tonight. Therefore, rather than hardly put off a living, reminds ourselves to enjoy every minute of our live as if it is the last minute. Denise Levertov, the author of the poem “Living”, illustrates the philosophy of living a simple life is to live entirely in the present without thinking about what will happen next in the future. The reason for that philosophy is because happiness is not what you have but how you feel toward what you have and how you accept it.

	Living is about making choices. The choices people make shape their lives for better or worse. Even the decision not to choose has its effects, often not wanted. But the individual who chooses to make positive choices and to act accordingly is more likely to see his or her life reflect his or her beliefs and desires. Usually the individual who chooses to take action is also willing to face the risks and obstacles that such choices involve.

Anne Dillard uses diction and juxtaposition in both “Living like Weasels” and “Sojourner” to establishes her distaste towards the actions and cognition of the human race. Personification of the inhabitants in nature is done in order to prompt changes on people’s opinion on the universally accepted biotic hierarchy. Humans believe themselves to be the most advanced creature on earth and rebuff any teaching by the natives. Dillard portrays her disagreement with such notion by using story telling techniques to enchant and then preach the lessons she herself learns from nature.

Annie Dillard’s essay is just an exploration into the way human beings might live. When she sees a weasel, she looks into the life of that weasel. Studying how it lives its life. Then she compares it to humans. Human beings are creatures of caution and fear. We never fully live our lives because we are too caught up with avoiding risks. We think, debate, and calculate each and every move while weasels just simply act. A weasel is a creature of action and instinct. A weasel lives its life the way it was created to, not questioning his motives, simply striking when the time is right. I agree with Dillard’s idea that we "might learn something of mindlessness, something of the purity of living in the physical senses and the dignity of living without bias or motive" (Dillard 210).

In this quote, Dillard is supposing that humans often become engrossed in the selfish desire to obtain more; whether it be wealth, power, or how others perceive them. Personally, it is easy to see correlation between the mindset I carry and Dillard’s perspective of her encounter with the weasel. Life can be unquestionably overwhelming at times, as a result of this I often picture myself in the life of someone completely incompatible to mine. From my standpoint, their life may be perceived as stress-free and full of freedom, but I am unaware of the challenges that they may as well endure throughout their existence. When Dillard made eye contact with the weasel she experienced 60 seconds of blissful emptiness. Taking time to reflect on your values compared to how others attain theirs is demonstrated crucially in this piece. Dillard states, “I would like to learn, or remember, how to live. I come to Hollins Pond not so much to learn how to live as, frankly, to forget about it” (8). According to the way I view the world, the point Dillard is attempting to get across to the reader is that freedom can be attained by anyone no matter the circumstance, you can be who you want to be with no limitation. I always try to get the most out of

Annie Dillard’s essay “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 “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?

My connections look at how certain choices can affect your life forever. The texts that I used to convey this link were The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle, The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont and a poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken. Throughout the texts used we learn that you cannot always see the outcome of a particular choice unless you choose to go down that path. An important decision is made by the main character(s) in each text and they suggest that not all choices are easy to make and can have positive and negative consequences.

Mary Oliver’s article offers honest opinions on Rustum Roy. This article is very detailed when it comes to friendships. Friendship is the theme of the poem in “Wild Geese.” The article talks about Roy’s life and how he lived but most importantly what his friendship meant. He lived a very adventurous life and his friends miss that special memory they got to share with him.

Annie Dillard’s effective use of language and style reflect and further the opinions she voices within “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek”. She knows how to reel the audience in and then strengthens her points with such detailed descriptions of every little thing. A common theme throughout this classic is about seeing and gaining the ability to be able to see things for their beauty and what they really are. Dillard also wants her audience to see the things that are usually not noticeable or sometimes even taken for granted. Things such as objects, events and creatures, Dillard does a great job at making the words on the pages jump out and come to life. She first points out the tomcat. She vividly describes how this big bloody-pawed tomcat would lay

To choose your own future, destiny and life is very hard. Everyone wants to do something that makes them happy. But sometimes you take the wrong decisions or everything decides to go against you, which makes you stay in the box you were trying to escape from. When your dreams don’t get fulfilled, you will be in that box and wait for the light. It’s not always about what you want, but what you need. And to live a good life, and to do something productive, you have to work in a way that will make you happy, because that is what you need the most.