Similarities Between Audubon And Annie Dillard

Although our eyes watch the same scenes, our minds tell different stories. As John James Audubon and Annie Dillard gaze at large flocks of pigeons in flight, they both experience different emotions and spiritual feelings despite viewing the same scene. In contempt of their varying reactions to the birds, both writers enlist a sense of admiration and respect for the beauty present within the nature of the birds.

Audubon maintains the presence of a scientific observer as he counts the flocks of birds, “marking a dot for every flock that passed.” He then notes their immaculate formations, especially “when a Hawk [sic] chanced to press upon the rear of the flock . . . [and] they rushed into a compact mass . . . [and] darted forward