Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Essay | Critical Essay #5

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Critical Essay #5

The problem—emblematically—is with insects:

Fish gotta swim and bird gotta fly; insects, it seems, gotta do one horrible thing after another. I never ask why of a vulture or shark, but I ask why of almost every insect I see. More than one insect—the possibility of fertile reproduction—is an assault on all human value, all hope of a reasonable god.

Several things are notable about this passage. First, that Annie Dillard's concern—or one of them— is about insects. Second, that her concern has little or nothing to do with the effect of insects on humans but with the sheer manner of their existence: "not only did the creator create everything, but... he is apt to create anything. He'll stop at nothing." Third, that her concern is not with the creator's goodness but with the creator's reasonableness. Fourth, looking beyond the quoted passage, we are not shown either the reasonableness...
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