Critical Analysis Of Annie Dillard's 'The Deer At Providencia'

Why do we suffer? Humans have spent years searching for meaning in the grievous events that happen in life. Some find comfort through religions that give reason to tragedy and teach that suffering is not always eternal. Others just accept that this is the way the world is and then do their best to adapt to that reality. Religions and philosophies, like Buddhism and stoicism, may try to teach its followers how to end their pain, because no one likes hurting. However, suffering is not necessarily a bad thing. It is painful, but suffering can bring new levels of meaning and appreciation to happiness. Pain is inevitable for anyone who cares about the people or things in his/her life. But if we were to eliminate suffering then life would become meaningless, because real joy is not possible without the risk of pain, and those who find contentment after enduring some tribulations appreciate their joy much more.

1-11) Annie Dillard is an American author born in 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Claiming no religion as her own, she attended Hollins University where she began writing prose and poetry under the guidance of her writing professor, and later husband, R H W Dillard. Her first book, a collection of poems entitled Tickets for a Prayer Wheel, was published in 1974 and details her quest for spiritual knowledge, a reoccurring theme in her works. Her most famous work was published soon after, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. She was awarded the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for her work. Her other famous works include Holy the Firm, An American Childhood, The Writing Life, The Living, and The Maytrees. She is currently married to historical

Suffering is part of the human condition in which one undergoes pain, distress or hardships. When most people suffer from any sort of distress, they experience terrible agony. Depression, at times, is their end result. However, others attempt to escape suffering and become stronger individuals. They begin discovering inner strengths, which allows them to get past suffering rather than becoming weaker. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano and A Narrative of the Captivity by Mary Rowlandson are both narratives written by two individuals in which they are faced with the challenge of overcoming obstacles that refrain them from growing stronger and detaining from the affliction they are met with. These obstacles include of distress, struggles and difficulties.

The idea of suffering is prominent throughout the story in various ways both in music and drug abuse. The unnamed narrator experiences suffering through losing his young daughter Gracie, the loss of his mother and his younger brother being incarcerated. A lot of the times the unnamed

The theme of suffering will be talked about throughout this essay. Even though it isn’t the most pleasant topic to talk about, it is part of our lives. The dictionary defines suffering as “The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship.” This essay will examine suffering and how it shows up in different printed sources, as well as in my personal life.

This is the modern, everyday life of many unfortunate people. For People of all ages. You can hear on the news about wives and children and even husbands who were killed in acts of rage and domestic violence. Even though I am unable to relate to this certain passage, I was still touched and I actually felt sympathy for these fictitious characters.

Suffering is an obstacle that everyone has to confront at all times in their life. Most of time, suffering is painful. However, if people consider it as a chance for learning, they can gain a broader appreciation of life and success. They will grow one step further in the process of overcoming and stepping out from the disincentive. However, confronting suffering is not necessarily drawing the beneficial consequences: sometimes, suffering seems ultimately pointless. It may ruin people devastatingly and even lead them to the dehumanization by drawing out their negative hidden traits. A Long Way Gone--a book of Ishmael’s dreadful memories of being a boy soldier and the atrocious truth of the war--and Othello--a tragedy of jealousy, vengeance, and love--indicate those two

shows that her misery stem from internally oppose to external emotions, The freedom that she nearly

As human beings everyone suffers but we all suffer differently. Some suffer emotionally, some suffer physically, some suffer mentally. And through suffering and pain we gain different experiences, we either overcome pain and sorrows or we break down waste our lives. Edwidge Danticat present the theme of suffering in each of her stories. In all the stories the characters have to go through pain, but they all over come it in different ways. This is true in real life too. in the children of the sea that characters suffer but the outcome is that, in 1937 the outcome is inner peace, and My outcome is discovering myself.

Like the people of Omelas, I recognized the wrongfulness of injustice, and had to confront a feeling of powerlessness, fury, and desolation. Familiarly, two lines encompass familiar feelings that I personally experienced as a child when I learned that some people often meet terrible treatment at the hands of other human beings. Page 615 reads, “Often the young people go home in tears, or in a tearless rage, when they have seen the child and faced this terrible paradox. They may brood over it for weeks or years.” The emotional poles ranging from profound sadness, manifesting in tears, and blinding rage expressed in these lines was often my initial reaction whenever I saw anyone suffering as a child. It illustrates a human response to injustice and a natural connection to the feelings of other people. What followed was often worse. Le Guin includes the bitter realization of injustice when she writes, “Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it…They know that they, like the child, are not free.” This feeling of hopelessness is worse than the initial rage felt at the sight of injustice. No matter how piercing the visceral image of injustice becomes, the feeling of powerlessness that comes from certain realizations about the reality of

“Suffering” is a word which carries negative connotations, used to incite pity, empathy or fear. Why would it not? Is suffering not simply agony, defined justly by the Oxford Dictionary as “the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship” (“Suffering)? Yet, we accept suffering as part of life, a fundamental aspect that defines living. Nietzsche tells us that the very act of living is suffering itself, but to survive is to find value in that suffering. Yet, what sort of value can be attached to an idea so negative? Pico Iyer’s editorial in the New York Times explores the value of suffering, likening suffering to passion and “[p]assion with the plight of other’s makes for ‘compassion’” (________________).I began to think upon the cohesive

Quote 1: Throughout the entire essay, Annie Dillard states that the ultimate way one should strive to act is like a “wild” weasel. Dillard emphasizes in order to achieve our final goal, through our actions we should act “mindlessly.” Ironically she promotes the characteristic of “mindlessness,” while our main function is to use logic to justify our acts. However, Dillard suggests that we should live by using our instincts rather than our intellect to avoid prejudice. She claims that we should thoughtlessly go about our life avoiding choices. Contrary to what Dillard believes, it is crucial to reflect on every decision one makes.

Our experiences of suffering may also help us in our moral conduct as an experience of suffering serves to make us sympathetic to the trials of others. We learn to a) help the afflicted (through consolation and relief) and to B) not inflict harm on others, having experienced suffering ourselves. Furthermore, many spiritual seekers in the past have felt that suffering and spiritual progress are inexorably linked, pointing to St Teresa of Avila and St Francis of AssisiI as examples . I believe that if we can learn from our

It is human nature to strive for comfort, to seek ease in a burdensome situation. When deprived of this sense of comfort, as demonstrated by Cynthia Ozick in “The Shawl”, it is through the suffering that ensues in which humanity is lost. This is made evident in her sparse writing style, the duality of the setting, and the use of illusionary symbolism.

"The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof… The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursue of wealth, prestige, striving for fame and popularity" (The Big View).