The Deer At Providencia Summary

Comparing the poem of e.e cummings “next to of course of god america i”, and the short story of Annie Dillard in “The Deer at Providencia” both had a similar ambivalent tone. In both stories, suffering as a senseless part of life and inevitable death of all beings is highlighted. Both authors question mortality and the unexplainable relationship God has with their death.

The poem, “next to of course god america I” was written during the first World War. Socially, this war was accepted as a part of patriotic duty and was not widely protested. American citizens were proud to fight and support this war. In "next to of course god america i", Cummings wrote in the form of a public speech, as though a politician was ironically describing the brutality
Dillard uses irony here as she writes the lunch scene describing the delicious meal – literally feeding off the suffering of the animal that died the day before. Dillard thinks that suffering is part of life and we should accept it with an understanding that death and pain comes to us all. She hypocritically doesn’t accept the fate of a man, Alan McDonald whose suffering troubles her conscience. She doesn’t have the same empathy for the deer that she does for Alan McDonald who was severely burnt on two separate occasions in his life. She pleads for their dignity. “Will someone please explain to Alan McDonald in his dignity, to the deer at Providencia in his dignity, what is going on ? And mail me the carbon? (Dillard 22).” Both the deer and the man represent the phenomenon of being, in some sense, chosen or unable to escape severe suffering. The distribution of pain is not equal in life and some people or animals have to suffer more than others. In both cases, the suffering is terrible, but there is a plausible reason for the deer’s death, but no explanation for the man. “This is the Big Time here, every minute of it,”
They don’t understand unnecessary pain to death scenarios. What is the point of putting your life or the life of another on the line for simple life pleasures – winning wars, eating dinner, etc. The authors of these pieces believe there is a mystery in behavior when facing death. In contrast, Dillard appears to be more curious as to why suffering falls more harshly on some people than others. Cummings tends to be more pessimistic about the outcome of patriots and why they bother to throw themselves into a death