3 52 Fig ur at iv e Languagc Untyirtg the Knot 353

ings, ancl insiglrts. "l]esicle it, likc stallnch sentinelsthrough thc Suggesfions for Wr iting
will hr-rll<the LM dcscent stage, and the as-
o f o u r n l i s s i o n ." 1. \scribe
erat 2 L l a g e a s p o ssi b l e . Th e n r cw r i te o 'resc pll rll-
graphs, s figrting met:rphoric:rl for h i r n g u a g e w h cr c
possi bl e.
Questionsfor Study and [)iscussion Z. Narrate and describea b thertwoulcl be strangc t0
a parti cular audience. his auclienccknows not h-
1. To wlifr, clocsScottimplicitlyconrparethe wei C SSN C SS C X- wor lcl of t his ex-
p.ri.n.ct$huuthe lunar'surfate?\Whatother r,ff experienccs escribecl.
'
cloesl"re,ffifu,ribe
throughcornparisons? # Focus 0 S C aspect sof t he exper iencet hat you

2. What sightffiot previouslyexperienccd lryffirttl beingsdoes fiificantor r evcaling.

he dcscri[re,
he dcscri[re, ful how
&ft doeshe?
how does he? How
How doeffigurative languagc
doe#Lururtivelanguag,
help lrirn tcl nr=afotheseexperiencesviviff
3. \ilhat aspectsoffie total experience#,Fr he stressthe rnost?
Annie Dillard
4. Hacl he been writits to an audience futr-rreastrotrauts., how
rnight the clescripti iirave lrecn clifferent?
.anciexpositi
5. l)oes Sccltt clcvelop a s t s , or I acl describeAn expericnce IJI{TYING THE, I(NOT
with ou t dr awing c onc i o n s?
A n n i e D i l l a r c l w a s b o r tr i r r 1 9 4 5 i r r Pi ttsb u r g h ; sh c cl cscr i b csl r cr ca r l y
l i f e i r r l r c r a u t o l >i o g r a p h yAn An r e r i cAn C h i l d b o o d ( l 9 tl 7 ) .l ) i l l a r cl l i vcd
i n t h e I t o a n c l k eVa l l e y o f Vi r g i n i n rfo r te n yca r s; sh c cl e scr i l r cs h cr '
Vocab Study
expericncesthcre in l'ilgrint at'l'inker C)reek(1974), for which shc w2'rs
a;
a w a r c l e ctl h e P ul i tzcr Pr i ze fo r Gcn cr a l N o n - Fi cti o n i n 1 9 75 . Sh c l a tcr
l. E x pl: r in h o w S c o tt u s e s folk ng wclrclsfiguratively: blot- l i v e c li n t h c P a c i fi cN o r th w cst a n cl n o w te a ch csa t We sl cya n [Jr r i vcr si ty
tecl, clazzlecl(paragra ffi); sltra hr(paragraph4); embalnted i r r M i c l d l e t o w n, C o n n e cti cu t.Sh c i s a l so tl r c a u th o r <>f'l 'i ckt:tsf"r r t
( par agr a p h7 ); a l i e n iragraph 1 radiant (paragraph30). I:'rttycrWheel (1974) atrd I.iuirtg tty Ilictiorr (l9ti2).
.I'he
2. phrase "the sh w s s h rAn k " i exampl e of personi fi -
ca tion : thc inanit e shaclowsarc n ani nrate or human
qualit ies.W h a t e r c x a n rp l c so f p e rs ification clo vou find Yesterday I se t o n t to ca tch th e n e w sca so n , a n cl i n stcl tcl
irr the essay? I for-rnclan old snakeskin.I was itr the sunny Felrn-rarywoocls
3. Metaphors tl d o tro t i rn me d i a te l ycall ir c t u r e t o r n i n d o r by the quarry; dre snal<eskir"r was lyirrg in a heap of lcaves
strike us 11 eirrg comparisons are SOIN C s cal l ed " sub- right next to iln aquarium sorneonehad thrclwn awrry. I clon't
rnerged" b u ri e d " tn e ta p h o rs :
l<now why that sonreone[rauledthe aquarium cleepirrto the
So we ke o r r r clo cl< s sct to l- lcltr sto n tin r c and gear livesto woocls to get ricl clf it; it had only one brolcenglass sicle.
the 24-l r r c y c le we hAv e r llway s k nown. The snalcefound it handy, I irnagine; snakes like to nrlr
F in v e ra l e x a rn p l e so f s u c h me ta phorsi n thc esd
Llgainstsometl-ring rigicl to help thenr out of their slcirrs,ancl
4. Us our clictionary to investigate the ctymol.gy ol{q[e fol- the lrroken aquarium lookecl likc the neArestlikely obfcct.
itg worcls-that is, their_origin: "firmantent (paragl:t#l.r3); Together the snakeskinand thc qcllrarinnrrnaclearl intcrest-
coTutilssance (paragraph 7); tnctntles (llaragrrrph 1.4); Tndnt- ing sceneon the forest florlr. It loclkecllike :ln exhibit at a
inoth (paragraph 17). trial-circumstantial eviclence-of a wilcl scene,zlsthcxrgha
3: I r i g u r ative L a n g u ir g c
sttal<chacl bu rst th r<lughthe broken sicleof the aqLlariurn,
burst through his ugly olcl skin, irnd clisappearecl, pcrhaps
strrrightup in the air, in a rush clf freedom and beauty.
'fhc snakesl<inhad unkeeledscales,so it belongedto a
nonpoisollous snal<e.It was rcltrghly five feet lorrg by the
yarclsticl<, but ['nr not sure becauseit was very wrinkled and
d.y, ancl every tinre I triecl to stretch it flat it broke. I errded
Lrpwith sevcnor eight piecesof it all ovcr the kitchen table
in a fine film of forest clust.
The point I warrt to rnake alrout the snakesl<inis that
when I founcl it, it was whole anci tiecl in a krrot. Nclw therJ
havc been stor-ies tolcl,evenby reputablescientists,of snakes
that have cleliberatelytied thenrsclvesirr a knot to pr event
larger snalcesfronr trying to swallow ghsn1-but I cor:ldn't
imagineany way that throwing itself into a half hitch woulcl
hclp el snake trying to escapcits sl<in.Sti[[, ever cautious,I
figtrreclthat one of the neighborhood boys could possibly
Itirvetied it in a knot in the fall, for some whimsical boyish
reason,and left it there, where it driecl and gathereddust.
So t carried the skin along droughtlesslyas I wallced,snag-
ging it sllre cnough on a low branch and ripping it in two
l'or thc first of nrany tirnes.I saw that thick ice still lay on
tlre c.luarry pond ancl that the skr-rnkcabbage was alreacly
ctut in the clearings,and then I cilrne home ancl loolceclat
the skirr:rnclits l<nclt.
The lcnot hacl no beginnirrg,Idly I tumed it arouncl irr
nry hand, searchirrgfor a place to untie; I came to with a
stirtt when I realized I nrust have turned the thing around
fully tetr tintes.Intently, then, I tracedthe knot's lunrp around
with a finger: it was continuclus.I ccxrlcln'tuntie it any more
tharr I could Lrntiea doughnut; it was a lclop without begin-
ning or end. Thesesnakesdre magic, t thought fclr ir second,
rrnd then of course I teasoneclwhat must have happencd.
The slcirrhacl been pulled inside-or-rt like rr peeledsock for
sevcralinches; thcn an inch or so of thc inside-outpart-a
piecewhose length was coinciclentallyequal to thc diarneter
of thc slcirr-hacl sonrehow been turnecl right-sicleout again,
nral<inga thick lr-rnrpwhose eclgeswere lost ir-rwrinl<les,
lool<ingexactly lil<e:r knot.
So. I hrlve bcetrthirrl<irrg alrout thc chzrngeof scasor-ls. I
Untying tbe It. :i55
clon't want to miss spring this yerlr.trwant to clistirrguish tlre
last winter frost fronr thc out-clf-se ason one, thc frost clf
spring.trwant to be therc ()n the spot the tnonrctrtthe l4rass
tums grecn. I always nrissthis raclicalrcvolr-rtiolt; I sec it the
ncxt clay from a v'irrdow, the yard so suclclenlygreell ancl
lush I could envy Nebuchadnezz^rclowtrolr all fours eirtittg,
grass.This year I warntto sticl<a net into tinrc irnclsely"lt{)w,"
as nrell plant flags or) the ice anclsnow and sry, "hcre." Xhtt
it occLlriedto rne that I cclulclno more catch spring by the
tip of thc tail than I coulcl untie dre apparent knclt in tlrc
srlakeskin;there are no edgesto grasp.lloth arc contiltuoLls
loops.
I woncler how long it would tal<eyou tt.l nclticethe rcg-
tularrecurrenceof the seasonsif you were the first ntan on
earth. \ilhat woulcl it be lilce to live in open-enclecl titnc brcl-
ken only by days arrclnights?You coulcl slry, "it's colcl again;
it was colcl bcfore," but you couldlr't nralcethe k.y connec-
tion and szly,"it was colcl this tinrc last year," becauscthe
notion of "year" is preciselythe one you lacl<.Assr,rnrirlg
that yoll hacln't noticed an or-clerlyprogtessiotrof heaverrly
bodies, how long woulcl yor.l have to live on earth before
yoLl could feel with any assurallcethat any olte particular
long period of cold would, in fact, errd? "Wl^rilethe earth
renraineth, seedtime and harvest, ancl cold alrcl heat, ancl
sumnterand winter, and doy and night shall not ceAse":Gocl
makes this gllaranteevery early in Genesisto a people wlrose
fearson this point had perhapsnot been completelyerllayed.
It rnust have been fantastically inrportant, at the real
begirrningof human cr-rltllre,to conserveand relay this vitaf
seasonalinformaticln)so that the peoplecould anticipatedry
or cold seasons,and not hudclle on sorrle Novetnber roclc
hoping patheticallythat spring was just arouud the corller'.
\We still very rnnch stressthe sirnple fact of for-rrseasonstcl
schocll chilclren; even the most moderrr of Inodern new
tearchers,who don't seem to care if their chargesciln teacl
or write or narne fwo products of Penr, will still trrustersonlc
seasonalchitchat ancl set the kids to tnaking paper pump-
l<ins,or tr-rlips,for the walls. ".fhe people," wr ote Van Gcrgh
in a letter, "are very sensitiveto the changingseasons."f'hat
we are "very sensitiveto the changing seasons"is, inciden-
 3 56 lrig rrr:r t iv c[ . : r nguagc
tally, one of the few goocl rcasonsto shun truvcl. If I stay at
ItottreI prcservcr drc illusiorrthat wlrat is happeningorr Tinker
Crccl<is the v ery ncwestthing, that I'm at thc very vanguarcl
anclcutting cclgeof cach new season.I don't want the same
seasontwicc i n a row; Iclon't want fo krrow I'nr gettirrglast
wccl<'swcather, usecl wcather, wcather br ozrclcastup irrrd
cl<lwnthe coast.,olcl-hatweathcr.
lJtrt therc's arlwarys 'What
unseasonablcweather. we thirrl<
of the weathcr ancl behirvior of life orl tlrc planet at any
giverrseASOrl is really all a rnattcr-of statisticaIprobabilities;
rrt any givcrrpoirrt, arrythingnright happen.Thcre is bit of
every scasonin each scason.Grecn plants-clecicluous ^ grccn
leaves-grow everywhere,all wirrter lorrg, ancl small shoots
colne Llp p:rle ancl new in every season.Leaves die on the
tree in M^y, turn brown, and fall into the crcck. The calen-
dar, thc weatlrcr, and thc behavior of wilcl creatureshave
the slinrtnestof connectiorrs.Everything overlaps snroothly
for orrly 2l few weeks each se:rson,and then it all tanglcs LUI
rtgairr.The temperaturc, clf colrrsc, lags far behirrclthe crrl-
cnclrrrseasons,since thc earth alrsorbs and releaseshe:rt
slowly, lilcea leviathanbreathing.Migrating birds head soutl-r
in wh:rt Ltppearsto be clir-epanic, leaving nrild weathcr and
fielclsfull of insectsund seecls;they reappearas if in all ea-
gernessin Janlrary, and 1-rokcabout ffloroselyin the snow.
Severalyears ago olrr October woods would have macle a
cJisnral colorcclphotclgraphfor a sadist'scalendar:a l<illing
frost can'rebef'orethc lcaveshad cven begurrto brclwn; they
clroppeclfrottr cvery tree likc crepe,blaclcenccJ ancl lirnp. It's
all it chaltcy, jumblecl affair at lrest, as things seenr to be
below the stzrrs.
Tinre is the continuous loop, the snAl<eskin with scirles
cncllesslyoverlappingwithout beginning or end, or tirr-rcis
tn asccl-rcling spiral if you will, like a chilcl'stoy SlinLy.Of
coltrsewe have no icleawhich arc on the loclp is our timc
let alonc wherc the loop itsclf is, sc)to speak,oi clown *lltrr3
lofty flight of stairs thc Slinky so uncannily walks.
The power we sccl<,too, seenrstcl be a continlrollsloop.
lhave trlways becrrsyffrpathcticwith the e:rrly notiorr of a
clivine[)ower that cxists in a prlrticularrplace,clr d-rattravels
[)nty i rtg tbe l Qt< tt 357
alrout ovcr thc frrceof thc carth :ls :l n]an nright warrclc
lurtclwhetr he is "thcre" hc is surcly uot hcre. You crln shal<c
the hancl of il urrln you rneet in tlrc woocls; but the spir-it
sccrnsto roll along like thc nrythicallroop snel<ewith its tail
in its nrotrth.-fhere are no hanclsto slrrrl<e or cclgest<l unfic.
lt rolls zrlongthc rnountain r-iclgesIil<ca {ircball,shootingoff
a spray of sparlcsat rrrnclonr,and will not lre tralrpecl,slor,vr:cl,
grasped, fetchecl,peelecl,or aitnecl."As for thc whccls, it
was cried unto thenr in nry hcaring, O whecl." T'his is thc
hoop of flarmethat shoots the rapiclsin thc crcel<or spins
across the cliz,z,yrneacJclws;this is the ar-s<lr-rist
of tlrc sunny
woods; catch it if you can.
Comtnent
Mctal -rhor i s par t icular ly appr opr iat c t o t he idcas o{' t lr is essr ly.
D i l l ard uses ther l<not t eclsnal<esl<ines: r nr et aphor f or cxist ellcc.
S he rnal cesher pclint clir cct ly: she can no r r or e "cat ch spr ir r g by
the tip of the tail" tlran slrc can Llr-lticthc lcnot-"thcrc rlrc rlo
ecl gesto grasp. lJot h ar c cont inuous loops. " She lr uilclscr lr cf ully
to thi s statenrent ,her f ull nr car r ingcm er ging ir r t hc clct ailsof her
account.Thc open f eelingof r pr ing st anclsf or a lar gc, rcxper ict t cc:
the scnsc of "open-enclecltinrc." Dillarcl wntntstcl see the worlcl
Llnewlrt each ntonrent, thclugh shc krrclwsthat expcriencesrepcat
themscl vcs.Tha t is why shc cloesnot want t o "cat ch spr ing lr y t hc
ti p of the tai l ." I t woulcl f ix t he exper ienccinst eaclof kccping it
open. I-l avi ng e xplor eclt hesc ideas, shc can f inish her ilnalogy-
"-l-iltte is the colltintrotls lclclp"-i111i sfte t[ipks irlso tlf al clivittc'
power that is everywherealw:rys.It is thc orrenessattclrrt thc szln'lc
ti nrc the vari ousnessof nat ur e t hat shc sccks t o cxpr css t hr ough
fi gurati ve l anguage.
Quesrrons for Stucly ancl Disctrssiorr
l. T'hc powcr of ttzrtrrr., ernclits openness, ilre synrbcllizcclin rnany
w a y s i u t h c cssa y. Th r o u g h w h a t n r e ta p h o r i s i t syn r l r o l i zccl a t
I0
the cnd ?
2. D i l l a r d r n o vcs ft'o ttr o r cl i r r l tr y cxp cr i e n cc tr - l th c e xtr r l o r cl i r ra r y.
Wh a t w o r c ls a n cl p h r a se s su g g cst th c cxtr a o r cl i n a r y a r r cl n r ys-