3rd Quarter Blogs: Blog #1

In her piece, "Living Like Weasels," Annie Dillard uses the carefree life of a weasel to suggest that humans are bound by restrictions and it it would be in our best interests to break free of this stronghold and live a limitation-free life, preferably in nature. Dillard uses descriptive language to describe the mundane, almost "paycheck to paycheck" life the weasel lives, recounts an anecdote of her encounter with a weasel, applies personal connections and comparisons to the life of a weasel, and ultimately decides that a weasel's life of only focusing on the moment at hand and letting yourself float by is an enviable way to live. Her tone is quite longing and her purpose is to try to get her audience into thinking about their own lives in order to perhaps envision them differently. Her audience is really all humans because we are all enslaved by one thing or another, and she wants them to consider their lives and what holds them back from living a more carefree life.



1. The essay is divided into sections to showcase the progression of her thoughts. She first merely describes a weasel, and is almost detached by it, simply stating facts. Then, the second part depicts the beginning of the encounter with the weasel, but she is more focused on the nature surrounding her, something she was known to do. The third portion really focuses on the enchantment she feels from seeing the weasel, and the fourth describes her personal connection. Parts five and six are almost like reflections and her final conclusion on the topic. As the numbers continue, her thoughts become more elucidated, so that by the end, she has reached a certain conclusion. I think it adds to her argument by showing how she arrived at her ideas.

2. This line reminded me of the Gettysburg Address because of the apparent use of antithesis. I think that what Dillard is trying to convey through this is that the weasel lives such a carefree life that contradictions don't exist in his world. He's open to anything, and therefore there is no point of contention, no pull towards one side or another. He simply lives in the middle and allows life to take him where he floats to. Dillard yearns for this because the contrasts she presents (e.g. time and death) are all limitations we face as humans, and that's what she wants to break apart from. Once we aren't restricted by them, we can accept things as they come.

4. "I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and fire, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. Then even death, where you're going no matter how you live, cannot you part." I think that this summarizes the tone because it depicts her yearning for the life of a weasel. She wants to almost float through life, allowing it to move her in any direction. Dillard was fascinated by the natural world and she somehow wants to become part of it because there are no cares. And because there are no cares, death isn't as significant of an event as it is to humans because there's no breaking apart from something, no feeling of being snatched away from something you held on to. Dillard yearns for this, and the tone is one of longing.