Summary Of The Present By Annie Dillard

“How do we know we exist?” An ancient question of epistemology, yet a question we have yet to find a concrete answer to. Some philosophers propose that events only occur if they are sensed by consciousness. However, this definition created a period-transcending question, “What happens if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to sense it?” Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek considers the presence of God in all elements of nature and the intricacy of creation; this context creates an environment for an enlightening faith-based response to this question. This motif first appears in the introduction chapter, ‘Heaven and Earth in Jest’, which delivers Dillard’s intent to be an observer of the intricacies of the natural world. Next, it appears in ‘The Present’, a chapter
Although Dillard emphasizes our God-given responsibility, she also focuses on our smallness so that we don’t forget our primary position as the created. Throughout ‘The Present’, Dillard focuses on trees as the subject of the moment, how they are like pillars of time. Specifically, while describing the sensation of running around these “obelisk-creatures, teetering on our soft, small feet” she asks if “a tree would hear” if she “fell in a forest” (71). Dillard’s use of metaphor to compare trees to obelisks evokes an image of an impenetrable structure, towering over humans. This clear image of our vulnerability is compounded by the description of our movement as “teetering” on “soft, small feet” compared to the solid foundation that renders an obelisk unshakeable. Dillard uses this language to equate trees to God in her writing, which, in the context of the chapter, asks us to orient our lives around God. Combining the two images, it makes sense why Dillard would ask if a tree would hear her fall in a forest, as she renders humanity small in insignificant compared to the might of