The first two chapters of Annie Dillard's For the Time Being are very rich with content and definitely a little challenging to understand but I want to address the section about the terra cotta warriors in China. Dillard describes this excavation in detail but the most interesting part for me was her description of the warriors coming out of the ground as if they were coming out of the earth. She says on page 15: "The clay people were earth themselves." This idea of beings coming out of clay reminded me of the second genesis story we read yesterday that said God molded man from clay, literally molded man from the earth that God created. Dillard refers to man coming out of clay again on page 57 except here she is speaking about death and that when a person dies they once again re-enter the clay, and re-enter the earth. I think Dillard uses this imagery to discuss man's relation to God as well as the environment. If we all arose from the earth than must we keep it sacred? She also discusses the sheer multitudes of people inhabiting the earth and how many have walked before us, and a tilled the soil before us just like the Chinese peasants. This is Dillard's way of mentioning the impact we have on the earth and how we must protect it rather than trample on it. Overall I really liked this reading I think it is tying these two things: Environment and religion, together well in just the first two chapters. God created man from the earth, and therefore man must protect where he came from.
Andrea Edman
While I was reading the first two chapters, the part about the terra cotta warriors caught my eye as well. It also reminded me of the second creation story we read in class. I wonder if this is just a coincidence that there is a similar Chinese story or if it was derived from the creation story. I think it is interesting that all across the world people find ways to relate this story to their own culture.
ReplyDeleteI, too, found the portion on the terra cotta warriors graspingly mystical.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds us, I think, to never look at things in only one way. I had previously looked upon those statues at mere pieces of carved rock, representing a cruel emperor's penchant for killing his slaves alongside him. Now I realize, however, that they are still somewhat alive.
I really like the way this book reads, even if not everything makes full sense to me. I found it interesting that the author divides each chapter into ten sections, each with a unique name: Birth, Sand, China, Clouds, Numbers, Israel, Encounters, Thinker, Evil, Now.
The two sections of "Now" which I have read seem to me to be at once the most depressing and the most poignant of all the sections.
I liked the point Dillard made in the first "Now" section: "Why," she asks, "are we watching the news, reading the news, keeping up with the news? Only to enforce our fancy--probably a necessary lie--that these are crucial times, and we are in on them."
I believe she is right. This is precisely why I watch the news, to feel "connected." To what, I don't exactly know.
She expands somewhat on this point in the second "Now" section, when she, through help of some ancient scholars, informs us that we are in the "Kali Yuga," or "Dark Age" stage of the universe. The "Kali Yuga" is the last of four phases of the universe written about in the Hindu scriptures. The four phrases, which are millions of years for us, compose only one day for Lord Vishnu, and at the end of each day, he destroys the universe and at the beginning creates it again.
It's an interesting concept, certainly, and a somewhat dour one. We can, at least, find some assurance in the fact that the Kali Yuga we are in now has occurred an infinite amount of times before, though with different people.
What I perceived after reading the first two chapters of Dillard’s text was her constant struggle to reconcile the idea of “God’s love” with the cruelty of nature. Dillard’s cold scientific-like descriptions of crippling disabilities that plague innocent children point out the baffling irony that even the most innocent of creatures can be cursed to an early death, or painful deformities with complete mental competence. Sometimes tragedy can be difficult to cope with and impossible to rationalize. Justification for the misfortune in a virtuous person’s life often times results in a stronger embrace of faith. The idea that God loves his/her/its children is a common tenant among western religions. Why then, do those who weather the worst of life’s storms cling so tenaciously to their faith in God and his/her/its love? I thought it particularly interesting that she brought up the story of rabbi Akiva ( an 85 year old Torah scholar) who was flayed. Rabbi Akiva was steadfast in his faith in God that even while he was being flayed alive at the age of 85 he was still cognoscente enough to remember to recite the Shema at the proper time of day. I get the impression that Dillard shares Moses’s sense of frustration over God’s inaction. God points out to Moses that this is how he sees things and how things are “at the highest point.” This is meant to imply that one cannot truly comprehend the ways that God works and that rationalizing God’s actions is a feat not capable of a mortal. I too, empathize with Moses. It is difficult for me to accept both the idea that God is an all loving God, yet at same time is capable of gross inaction when his/her/its children are suffering immensely. It is enough to compel anyone to ask the existential question “Who is like You, O Lord, among the silent, remaining silent through the suffering of His children?”
ReplyDeleteWhat I perceived after reading the first two chapters of Dillard’s text was her constant struggle to reconcile the idea of “God’s love” with the cruelty of nature. Dillard’s cold scientific-like descriptions of crippling disabilities that plague innocent children point out the baffling irony that even the most innocent of creatures can be cursed to an early death, or painful deformities with complete mental competence. Sometimes tragedy can be difficult to cope with and impossible to rationalize. Justification for the misfortune in a virtuous person’s life often times results in a stronger embrace of faith. The idea that God loves his/her/its children is a common tenant among western religions. Why then, do those who weather the worst of life’s storms cling so tenaciously to their faith in God and his/her/its love? I thought it particularly interesting that she brought up the story of rabbi Akiva ( an 85 year old Torah scholar) who was flayed. Rabbi Akiva was steadfast in his faith in God that even while he was being flayed alive at the age of 85 he was still cognoscente enough to remember to recite the Shema at the proper time of day. I get the impression that Dillard shares Moses’s sense of frustration over God’s inaction. God points out to Moses that this is how he sees things and how things are “at the highest point.” This is meant to imply that one cannot truly comprehend the ways that God works and that rationalizing God’s actions is a feat not capable of a mortal. I too, empathize with Moses. It is difficult for me to accept both the idea that God is an all loving God, yet at same time is capable of gross inaction when his/her/its children are suffering immensely. It is enough to compel anyone to ask the existential question “Who is like You, O Lord, among the silent, remaining silent through the suffering of His children?”
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the reading I found difficult throughout the first two chapters, as they practically flew by. However, I had great difficulty in its analysis and comprehension. There were tidbits of interesting fact and stories here and there. Specifically, I really enjoyed the "numbers" sections. In the first, I found the satirical serial killer's opinion of his murders quite funny and in the second, I found the comparisons in the numbers of dead versus living quite thought provoking. However, beyond this I was at a little bit of a loss. Therefore, it was nice to read the other blog posts, specifically Andrea's, which more or less sent me in better direction with more understanding of the points and analogies in Dillard's writing. I think the next chapters will begin to make more and more sense.
ReplyDeleteEven though I just read the first two chapters, I have to say that this book is so great, and it inspires me to think a lot. Annie wrote that: “when a person arrives in the world as a baby, says one Midrash, his hands are clenched as though to say, ‘everything is mine. I will inherit it all.’ When he departs from the world, his hands are open, as though to say, ‘I have acquired nothing from the world.’” Annie used behaviors of human beings to describe the way people usually think. Teenagers always think about controlling the world one day, whereas none of them succeeds. I think that God made the world for people, therefore, people can survive. Similarly, people cannot bring any beneficial things after their death. I also found the sentence below very interesting, “‘the sparks scatter everywhere,’ Martin Buber said. ‘they cling to material things as in sealed-up wells, they crouch in substances as in caves that have been bricked up, they inhale darkness and breathe out fear; they flutter about in the movements of the world, searching where they can lodge to be set free.” From this sentence, I consider that the author talks about the evils, because they inhale darkness which is opposite from brightness and does not feel like righteous things. I deem evils wanted to be set free by breathing out the fear, so in this way, the more people feel fear, the more freedom the evils get.
ReplyDeleteZoya Mufti
ReplyDeleteThe first two chapters of Dillard's novel were challenging to dissect but they were also fascinating. All of the sections were filled with interesting facts but the two sections that intrigued me the most were titled "Evil" and "Now."
When Dillard describes how God punishes people who do good during their lifetime and how God rewards evil doers, I found it alarmingly true and sad. How can one decide to lead their life to the fullest if you have to worry about how you will be rewarded or punished in your after life?
The section titled "Now" was intriguing becuase it brough up many idas that I have been thinking about lately. Are we not significant because of the century we are in or when future generations look back at our time, will we be just the same as all the generations before us? As much as I want to believe that our generation will create something or have some sort of significant event, I don't believe it will.
I look forward to reading the rest of the novel and seeing how the story progresses.
Chasen Bender
ReplyDeleteLike Andrea, the portion of reading about the excavation of the terracotta warriors reminded me of the second of the two Genesis creation stories that were discussed in class. The symbolic act of the warriors rising up from their earthen cavern very much embodies the idea that god first conceived man from the body, clay, of the earth. And, although I did not think of it, I am very much a proponent of the idea that because of the nature of human’s conception from earth, humanity must in return keep it as a holy entity. This then raises the question, how do you keep the earth body, which can be explained primarily through the attitudes and actions of conservation. Through the natural discourse of human existence, humanity is doomed to have a forceful negative impact on the environment. However, as to sustain that holy disposition, it is mandatory to minimize the damage.
Similarly to everyone else who has commented, I think that this novel is very dense. I don't fully understand what is happening, especially since I have only read two chapters. I do enjoy, however, the words of wisdom incorporated throughout the text. One specific quote that stayed with me more than the rest was, "Throughout my whole life, during every minute of it, the world has been gradually lighting up and blazing before my eyes until it has come to surround me, entirely lit up from within." This quote really embraces the importance of life and the necessity to be an open-minded and well-rounded person. These are two values that I try to live by so I can relate.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first two chapters - I don't know what to think. The content itself is written in a dense matter where it's really hard to draw connections and critically analyze her writing. Dillard's style reflects the truth of things, that there is beauty and horror in our lives, paradoxes we try to smooth out by telling ourselves stories to tie things together. Dillard takes a series of disparate subjects and juxtaposes them throughout the book with little in the way of transition. As Dillard moves from one apparently unrelated topic to the next, with little in the way of connecting narrative, the effect upon the reader is powerful and unsettling.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading these first two chapters, and after I read it I felt a little bit like my head was spinning. Like many of our class discussions, Dillard poses a myriad of questions and issues that really made me think. The first thing I thought of was Professor Berry's challenged to us- to guess Annie's religion. I was very confused, because there are many references to Eastern religions, so I immediately thought of Hinduism and Buddhism. But she refers to God punishing people for their wrong doings in ways that I cannot imagine a Hindu or Buddhist doing. Both religions believe in karma and reincarnation, which i felt she referred to when she spoke of the cycles of the earth and of our bodies being born from the earth and, upon death, falling back into the earth. But they don't believe in God specifically punishing people for wrongdoings. Buddhists don't even believe in a God. So, since I have no idea what Annie is, I am super excited to hear everyone's views about it in class tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI too really enjoyed her description of the terra cotta warriors. I think Katrina put it perfectly when she said that Annie showed us a way to see things as we hadn't see them before. As for the concept of the four stages repeating themselves throughout history, I am oddly comforted by the idea that we are a very very small part of a much bigger picture, a picture that our short lives could never begin to comprehend, a picture that takes billions of years to finish. Perhaps a picture that will never be fully completed. To me, this outlook on life gives us perspective; It makes us remember that we are not the most important thing on this planet, we are not the center of the universe, that there are other creatures and plants and cycles and systems all out of our control. Life is wild. Why spend all day watching the news, hearing about conflicts among people, when there is a beautiful world out there waiting to be appreciated.
I felt truly enlightened after reading the first two chapters Annie Dillard’s "For the Time Being". I struggled to understand her purpose in the beginning but slowly started to get the meaning behind her many stories, statistics, and thoughts. I have read Dillard’s works before and I have noticed that her objectives can be puzzling in the beginning of reading, but as you continue to absorb her words it all comes together.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, the account of the Terra Cotta Warriors truly fascinated me. About a year ago, I visited the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit at the National Geographic Museum. I remember being thinking that these depicted real people at a real time and they were simply buried for thousands of years, becoming one with the earth. After reading what Dillard had to say about them when she witnessed the excavation, I felt like she was echoing how I had felt but on a much deeper and personal level.
Overall, I think Dillard connected religion to the world and the environment very well. I think her purpose is to try to get people to step outside of themselves and connect what they believe with their time here on earth.
While reading the first chapters of Dillard's novel I, like a few others felt somewhat puzzled. I appreciated that the author was talented but unsure how to comprehend what I was reading. As I continued to read I was able to get used to her style a little more and I started to enjoy it. My favorite things were, when I actually understood her, I loved her quotations that she incorporated. For example, on page twenty, "That no man, though he sees others dying all around him, believes that he himself will die." Also on page twenty-nine when describing Moses' question about why good people suffer, "the tough one about God's allowing human, moral evil--is reasonable only if we believe that a good God causes, or at any rate allows, everything that happens, and that it's all for the best." The idea of "everything happens for a reason" and "it's God's will" seems to be common among religious people. This quotation really opened my eyes in that, it begged me to ask the question, why? If God really has everyone's best interest in mind then why do bad things happen to seemingly good people. Nevertheless, in agreeing with others I, too, enjoyed the terra cotta soldier bit. Overall, I appreciated that Dillard has an interesting writing style but I am very excited to understand her works and really appreciate it completely.
ReplyDeleteI found this book to be strangely captivating. At first I was very confused as to what was going on and didn't like the hodge-podge of vignettes. Reading further the style grew on me however. I found Sami's analyzation to be dead on. For the Time Being is truly powerful and unsettling. The section about the newborn babies really captures how precious life is-and how fragile. I still can't discern a unifying theme for the book but I feel inclined to suggest all of God's perfections and imperfections. I see Dillard as a commentator for life by presenting the good and beautiful and then, as Sami said, juxtaposing it against the harsh realities of the world.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few aspects of this reading that I found especially interesting and some parts that I didn't quite know what to think of. I thought that the clay soldier description was quite interesting. Dillard writes that the "same tan soil that embedded these people also made them; it grew and bore them". I thought this was an interesting way to talk about something that was man made. Is Dillard trying to illustrate that life doesn't necessarily have to be created by a higher power, that life can spring from the earth or be made by other existing life? That's kind of what it seemed like to me. This same idea came to my mind when she quotes Max Picard when he says "people seem as though they had just come out of the opening in a wall; as if they had wriggled their way out with difficulty". In the "evil" section, a topic that we have talked about some in class already came up. The argument that challenges the existence of God because there is still so much evil in the world. God's response to Moses' question is that it is how he "sees things".
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting aspect of this reading is the "now". It is very common for people to believe that the time period in which they live is in some way special or different from the many centuries that preceded it. In my opinion, this is why people watch the news. They are looking to hear about why the time period in which they live is so much more exciting or different than any other time in history. It's only the most exciting because we are able to experience it. This seems to be Dillard's stance as well since she says, "our time is a routine twist of improbable yarn". Yes we have exciting and devastating things happening every day, but "can the news from dynastic Egypt have been any different"?
The various ways in which the different strings interact, supporting, contradicting and paralleling one another interested me a lot. Much as numbers makes every person out to be a drop in a bucket the stories in encounters reminded me that each of those drops mingle with other drops. I may never even come close to meeting 5.9 million people, 1% of the population of earth, in my life. Likely I won't even meet all 10,000 students at GW. But I will meet some of them. And they will change who I am, and I will change who other people are. Maybe two people who have never met will be influenced by each other. The person who sculpted those terracotta soldiers never had any chance of knowing me. And I've certainly never met Annie Dillard but we're still connected somehow.
ReplyDeleteBut am I just as insignificant as those dots in blue? In a way one could even think of every tragedy Dillard enumerates in "numbers" as just one of those dots in blue if one looks at it from an even wider point of view. Those large scale tragedies aren't listed under "evil" rather its the more personal intimate evils that Dillard chooses to hi-light.
Both the hope that goes along with life and the evil that exists in all area's of life are intermingled by these chapters. The two seem connected sometimes completely such as a baby born with a birth defect. The thought that I'm left with seems to be that life is messy. It's both happy and sad. But most of all after reading these chapters I can only think that life is impossible to understand.