Daniel Blakely Outside Reading 2

The class discussed Annie Dillard in relation to the nature walk, however I read another book by her that I found to connect to class as well. An American Childhood is a look into Annie’s childhood, with both facts and made up portions. The majority is based on fact, and one moment that sticks out in my mind is a scene when Annie witnesses a butterfly struggle after having been kept in a jar for a classroom of kids. I am sure you are wondering, “how does that have anything to do with the class” but my point is still to come. So Annie witnesses this butterfly struggle to get out of the jar, and then cannot fly, all due to the constrictions that it was faced with within the jar. The butterfly does not just wonder off and die in that moment however. Annie relives the experience in the novel, and by doing so remembers what happened as she seemed to flow through life. She watched the butterfly struggle and then walk a ways while still struggling more. All in all, she shared a moment with the butterfly and the setting around them, but had no idea that she was doing so until well after the fact when she began to write down her stories for the novel.