Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter 5 Summary

In early spring, Dillard is out hiking and finds a five-foot snake skin tied in a knot. She wonders why the snake would have tied itself into a knot, as it was shedding. When she arrives home with the skin, she examines it closely, turning it around and around trying to untie the knot. The circle seems continuous, until Dillard realizes that the snake had turned parts of the skin inside out, making it appear as though the skin is in a knot.

Dillard is determined to notice the exact moment the season changes. She is usually caught by surprise, when she suddenly looks outside and the brown, winter grass is green. She realizes that seasons are a continuous loop, just as she thought the snakeskin was.

Van Gogh once wrote that "people are very sensitive to changing seasons." Dillard agrees and feels that for this reason, she does not...
(read more)