Every nature writer seems to have their own unique style when it comes to portraying nature. Although each writer expresses different techniques for portraying nature, there are writers that share some common views about nature in their works. Some nature writers, such as Henry David Thoreau’s “The Shipwreck,” view nature as both horrible and beautiful, which is quite similar to Annie Dillard’s views of nature in “Seeing.”
In the beginning of Thoreau’s “The Shipwreck,” he breaks down and examines how and why Cape Cod was named: “Cape is from the French word cap; which is from the Latin caput, a head; which is, perhaps, from the verb capere, to take…And as for Cod, that was derived directly from that ‘great store of codfish’ which Captain Bartholomew Gosnold caught there in 1602” (Thoreau). In comparison, Dillard takes a similar approach to describe seeing. She breaks it down to nearly every aspect of seeing, such as seeing is reading, looking for things she hasn’t seen, about eyes, drawing what is seen, what we can’t see yet, and being afraid of what you can’t see.
At first, Thoreau’s descriptions of Cape Cod leads the reader to think this could be a pleasant travel story, and not about a horrible shipwreck. However, when he and his company leave Concord, they learn that a horrifying shipwreck has taken place in Cohasset, so they decide to go there. “Shipwreck” enters a dark realm when Thoreau portrays the morbid nature of death and catastrophic consequences “of a violent storm” (Thoreau). After the ferocious storm causes the St. John to break against the fierce rocks, “the bodies which had been recovered, twenty-seven or eight in all, had been collected there…marble feet and matted heads as the cloths were raised, and on livid, swollen, and mangled body of a drowned girl” (Thoreau) Likewise, Dillard’s “Seeing” begins with a positive tone; however, even though Dillard portrays the nature of seeing as positive and playful in the beginning, like Thoreau, her portrayal also reveals the dark scope of seeing, especially concerning those who were born without sight and then undergo successful eye correction surgery. “For many, ‘it oppresses them to realize, if they ever do at all, the tremendous size of the world, which they had previously conceived of as something touchingly manageable’” (Dillard). Dillard explains how blind people are “indifferent to objects unless they [are] edible; [however, when a blind person can finally see for the first time], ‘a sifting of values sets in…thoughts and wishes are mightily stirred and some few of the patients are thereby led into dissimulation, envy, theft and fraud’” (Dillard).
Thoreau’s “Shipwreck” highlights the power of the ocean, its surroundings, and the fact that man has no control over nature. He defines nature as a beautiful threat. The first account of Cohasset reveals a gruesome and destructive force of nature, where corpses are lingering everywhere along with the debris of the manmade ship that failed to stay intact during one of nature’s cruelest attacks. However, the next account of Cape Cod presents a lighter tone when he is sea-bathing at Jerusalem village: “The sea-bathing at Cohasset Rocks was perfect. The water was purer and more transparent than any I had ever seen. There was not a particle of mud or slime about it” (Thoreau). Even though Thoreau gives the impression that everything was perfect, he does point out that even on a hot, fine day, “the water is so icy cold that [he] could [only] swim about a stroke or two” (Thoreau). Therefore, he portrays nature as deceiving.
Dillard on the other hand also juggles around the idea of the nature of seeing as a beautiful threat. Nature can present pleasant imagery for the sighted; however, it can also present threats to people such as the formally blind because nature is a bold and massive reality, which is something that blind people might not have realized before they had sight. She also points out that some people who were born blind simply learn how to deal with it. “Many newly sighted people speak well of the world, and teach us how dull is our own vision” (Dillard). As Dillard examines several different aspects of seeing, she defines it differently for each person including herself by seeing both the positive and negative aspects of sight.
Both Thoreau and Dillard present nature as something beautiful, and as something horrible. Ultimately, nature in both works often present comforts and threats. As in “The Shipwreck,” nature can cause devastatingly morbid effects, but it can also provide imagery of buds, and petals, and seed-vessels of flowers” (Thoreau). Thoreau demonstrates how nature can easily conceal the devastation it causes, fooling people into thinking that it is more beautiful than horrible—until he jumps into the freezing water on one of the hottest, calmest days. Likewise, Dillard presents nature in much of the same manner; it can visually provide us with pleasant imagery, but it can also scare and intimidate the heck out of certain people who are not used to visually seeing nature. Dillard also points out that even seeing through binoculars nearly triggering her to lose her balance, causing her to be “in danger of joining the hawks on a vertical migration of [her] own” (Dillard).
Works Cited
Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: Harper Perennial, 1974.
Thoreau, Henry David. “The Shipwreck.” Cape Cod. Camberidge: University Press, 1908.
In the beginning of Thoreau’s “The Shipwreck,” he breaks down and examines how and why Cape Cod was named: “Cape is from the French word cap; which is from the Latin caput, a head; which is, perhaps, from the verb capere, to take…And as for Cod, that was derived directly from that ‘great store of codfish’ which Captain Bartholomew Gosnold caught there in 1602” (Thoreau). In comparison, Dillard takes a similar approach to describe seeing. She breaks it down to nearly every aspect of seeing, such as seeing is reading, looking for things she hasn’t seen, about eyes, drawing what is seen, what we can’t see yet, and being afraid of what you can’t see.
At first, Thoreau’s descriptions of Cape Cod leads the reader to think this could be a pleasant travel story, and not about a horrible shipwreck. However, when he and his company leave Concord, they learn that a horrifying shipwreck has taken place in Cohasset, so they decide to go there. “Shipwreck” enters a dark realm when Thoreau portrays the morbid nature of death and catastrophic consequences “of a violent storm” (Thoreau). After the ferocious storm causes the St. John to break against the fierce rocks, “the bodies which had been recovered, twenty-seven or eight in all, had been collected there…marble feet and matted heads as the cloths were raised, and on livid, swollen, and mangled body of a drowned girl” (Thoreau) Likewise, Dillard’s “Seeing” begins with a positive tone; however, even though Dillard portrays the nature of seeing as positive and playful in the beginning, like Thoreau, her portrayal also reveals the dark scope of seeing, especially concerning those who were born without sight and then undergo successful eye correction surgery. “For many, ‘it oppresses them to realize, if they ever do at all, the tremendous size of the world, which they had previously conceived of as something touchingly manageable’” (Dillard). Dillard explains how blind people are “indifferent to objects unless they [are] edible; [however, when a blind person can finally see for the first time], ‘a sifting of values sets in…thoughts and wishes are mightily stirred and some few of the patients are thereby led into dissimulation, envy, theft and fraud’” (Dillard).
Thoreau’s “Shipwreck” highlights the power of the ocean, its surroundings, and the fact that man has no control over nature. He defines nature as a beautiful threat. The first account of Cohasset reveals a gruesome and destructive force of nature, where corpses are lingering everywhere along with the debris of the manmade ship that failed to stay intact during one of nature’s cruelest attacks. However, the next account of Cape Cod presents a lighter tone when he is sea-bathing at Jerusalem village: “The sea-bathing at Cohasset Rocks was perfect. The water was purer and more transparent than any I had ever seen. There was not a particle of mud or slime about it” (Thoreau). Even though Thoreau gives the impression that everything was perfect, he does point out that even on a hot, fine day, “the water is so icy cold that [he] could [only] swim about a stroke or two” (Thoreau). Therefore, he portrays nature as deceiving.
Dillard on the other hand also juggles around the idea of the nature of seeing as a beautiful threat. Nature can present pleasant imagery for the sighted; however, it can also present threats to people such as the formally blind because nature is a bold and massive reality, which is something that blind people might not have realized before they had sight. She also points out that some people who were born blind simply learn how to deal with it. “Many newly sighted people speak well of the world, and teach us how dull is our own vision” (Dillard). As Dillard examines several different aspects of seeing, she defines it differently for each person including herself by seeing both the positive and negative aspects of sight.
Both Thoreau and Dillard present nature as something beautiful, and as something horrible. Ultimately, nature in both works often present comforts and threats. As in “The Shipwreck,” nature can cause devastatingly morbid effects, but it can also provide imagery of buds, and petals, and seed-vessels of flowers” (Thoreau). Thoreau demonstrates how nature can easily conceal the devastation it causes, fooling people into thinking that it is more beautiful than horrible—until he jumps into the freezing water on one of the hottest, calmest days. Likewise, Dillard presents nature in much of the same manner; it can visually provide us with pleasant imagery, but it can also scare and intimidate the heck out of certain people who are not used to visually seeing nature. Dillard also points out that even seeing through binoculars nearly triggering her to lose her balance, causing her to be “in danger of joining the hawks on a vertical migration of [her] own” (Dillard).
Works Cited
Dillard, Annie. “Seeing.” Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: Harper Perennial, 1974.
Thoreau, Henry David. “The Shipwreck.” Cape Cod. Camberidge: University Press, 1908.