Sensation and Perception in Dillard’s “Seeing”
There is no one way to look at nature. Everyone has their own way of looking at nature, but in “Seeing,” author Annie Dillard sees nature in two radically different and contradictory ways. Early on in the chapter, she explores an overly analytical method of seeing that she first began to use as a little girl searching the air for flying insects. But as the chapter progresses, she shifts to a second, arguably preferred method of seeing involving a regression to her most basic senses, followed by a gradual development of perception. Dillard attempts to persuade her readers of the value in the latter kind of seeing by experimentally comparing the two contradictory methods, concluding that this preferred …show more content…
Her anecdotes about post-operation cataract patients vary in message. Primarily, the patients are confused by their new ability, and some patients even express distress. Like infants, the newly sighted have not yet learned distance or depth perception; they can only see flat patches of color (29). This renders navigation difficult for them, to the point where they may elect to close their eyes to temporarily “[relapse] into [their] former state of total blindness” (30). Although this may seem contradictory to her thesis, the anecdotes emphasize how dazzling the world is when viewed purely, while building Dillard’s credibility as a well-read author. Following the seemingly contradictory anecdotes, Dillard deliberately closes with a positive anecdote about a young woman patient who closed her eyes for two weeks and finally reopened them. Dillard quotes, “the more she now directed her gaze upon everything about her, the more it could be seen how an expression of gratification and astonishment overspread her features; she repeatedly exclaimed: ‘Oh God! How beautiful!’” (31). When the patient finally reopened her eyes, she used the same sensing-before-perceiving type of sight that Dillard uses in nature. The patient’s gratification and awe act as Dillard’s evidence to her readers that her kind of seeing has value beyond its …show more content…
She contrasts two kinds of seeing: the simple sensing-before-perceiving method, and a converse method that involves perceiving before sensing. Early in the chapter, she introduces the latter method of seeing, in which Dillard knows what to look for before she finds it. She mentions that she used to watch for insects flying in the air, but she no longer sees them because she dropped the habit of looking for them (17). She later states that “specialists can find the most incredibly well-hidden things,” such as the grass clippings produced by field mice, because they have already constructed a perception of what they seek that allows them to sense it in their environment (19). The fact that Dillard acknowledges the validity of this alternative method of seeing could confuse her audience and weaken her argument. However, Dillard explores this contradictory method to better understand her perceptions. Then, once she is more conscientious, Dillard slows down the process of perception. She senses before jumping to conclusions, which enables her to attribute unique meanings to her surroundings and better appreciate nature for it, and that is why Dillard values this kind of seeing over the
There is no one way to look at nature. Everyone has their own way of looking at nature, but in “Seeing,” author Annie Dillard sees nature in two radically different and contradictory ways. Early on in the chapter, she explores an overly analytical method of seeing that she first began to use as a little girl searching the air for flying insects. But as the chapter progresses, she shifts to a second, arguably preferred method of seeing involving a regression to her most basic senses, followed by a gradual development of perception. Dillard attempts to persuade her readers of the value in the latter kind of seeing by experimentally comparing the two contradictory methods, concluding that this preferred …show more content…
Her anecdotes about post-operation cataract patients vary in message. Primarily, the patients are confused by their new ability, and some patients even express distress. Like infants, the newly sighted have not yet learned distance or depth perception; they can only see flat patches of color (29). This renders navigation difficult for them, to the point where they may elect to close their eyes to temporarily “[relapse] into [their] former state of total blindness” (30). Although this may seem contradictory to her thesis, the anecdotes emphasize how dazzling the world is when viewed purely, while building Dillard’s credibility as a well-read author. Following the seemingly contradictory anecdotes, Dillard deliberately closes with a positive anecdote about a young woman patient who closed her eyes for two weeks and finally reopened them. Dillard quotes, “the more she now directed her gaze upon everything about her, the more it could be seen how an expression of gratification and astonishment overspread her features; she repeatedly exclaimed: ‘Oh God! How beautiful!’” (31). When the patient finally reopened her eyes, she used the same sensing-before-perceiving type of sight that Dillard uses in nature. The patient’s gratification and awe act as Dillard’s evidence to her readers that her kind of seeing has value beyond its …show more content…
She contrasts two kinds of seeing: the simple sensing-before-perceiving method, and a converse method that involves perceiving before sensing. Early in the chapter, she introduces the latter method of seeing, in which Dillard knows what to look for before she finds it. She mentions that she used to watch for insects flying in the air, but she no longer sees them because she dropped the habit of looking for them (17). She later states that “specialists can find the most incredibly well-hidden things,” such as the grass clippings produced by field mice, because they have already constructed a perception of what they seek that allows them to sense it in their environment (19). The fact that Dillard acknowledges the validity of this alternative method of seeing could confuse her audience and weaken her argument. However, Dillard explores this contradictory method to better understand her perceptions. Then, once she is more conscientious, Dillard slows down the process of perception. She senses before jumping to conclusions, which enables her to attribute unique meanings to her surroundings and better appreciate nature for it, and that is why Dillard values this kind of seeing over the