A Desire For Certainty
I read Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse" more than a few times to understand what she was writing about. It is obvious that she isn't just writing to tell us about an eclipse that she saw. If she were, she would not have waited two years to write it, she would have started writing as soon as it was over. Something happened two years later that made Dillard to remember the eclipse. Her essay has a parallel connection with how people view and think about death. People enjoy uncertainty, to an extent. They want to experience death, without dying, because it is exhilarating, or exciting. As Dillard talks about events leading up to the eclipse you will find a connection of uncertainty, the same uncertainty that goes along with being scared when you are watching a scary movie. Dillard writes, "It looked as though we had gathered on hilltops to pray for the world on its last day. It looked as though we had crawled out of spaceships and were preparing to assault the valley below. It looked as though we were scattered on hilltops to sacrifice virgins, make rain, set stone stalae in a ring." Dillard shows uncertainty with this parallel construction, "It looked as though we..." numerous possibilities for the same situation. Di
It is certain and comfortable while being uncertain and uncomfortable at the same time. 2Dillard makes many references to death when she is talking about the eclipse. You are in control of the situation. She writes, "A partial eclipse is very interesting. Then what do you do? You do it again and again. llard knows that something big is coming, she has an anticipation that what she knows is coming is somewhat unknown. What Dillard is trying to show is the thrill and exhilaration that comes with the entertainment of uncertainty. The only 4reason people will jump of a bridge is because they strap a giant rubber band to their ankles. It's why people go to scary movies, ride roller coasters, or jump out of a plane. The lifesaver is the happy ending of a scary movie; it is both feet planted firmly on the ground after spending ten minuets freefalling from an airplane. " We do things that make us uncomfortable. It puts you in an uncomfortable, unfamiliar position, and just when you can't take anymore, you're back to reality.
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,
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