One of the things that makes the narrator of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek so endearing is her childlike fascination with, well, almost everything. Frogs? Check. Bugs? Check. Snakes? Check—as long as she has her snakebite kit in her pocket, that is.
When Dillard goes to Tinker Creek, her goal is to become "functionally unfixed," or to teach herself a new way of seeing. She makes a concerted effort to see amazing things, but ultimately realizes that you just have to be present and let those things show themselves to you. You can't go looking for stuff to awe you, but if you chill in one place for a while, it'll happen.
Questions About Awe and Amazement
- Dillard repeatedly returns to the tree with lights in it as one of the most awe-inspiring sights she sees at Tinker Creek. What makes it so special?
- What are some of the other awesome, amazing experiences Annie cites from other writers and explorers? How do they relate to her own?
- What was the last time you felt awe and amazement? Was digital technology involved, or did you have to get away from technology to experience it?
- Do you have to be a specialist to understand the awesomeness of what you see? How much do you have to know about something to appreciate it?
Chew on This
The experiences that inspire the greatest sense of awe aren't the ones we seek out, but the ones we stumble upon.
You can't experience awe without being fully present, without being so engaged in seeing that you forget yourself.