In Annie Dillard’s story Living Like Weasels, she innovatively constructs a story full of deleterious imagery with the intention of conveying that nature is utilized as a choice rather than a necessity by humanity. Dillard’s use of deleterious imagery is a way of showing negative imagery of nature caused by humanity. Using deleterious imagery, Dillard reveals her feelings and positions regarding nature.
Dillard achieves to tell the message by juxtaposing humanity’s creation and the natural world. Dillard pairs phrases like “a 55 mph highway” with “a nesting pair of wood ducks”, “muskrat hole” with “beer can” and “motorcycle tracks” with “wild turtles lay eggs”(Dillard 117). The cars driving on the highway could run over any of the ducks and supposedly kill them; it was civilizations choice to make that highway to make life easier for them. The can of beer could block one of the muskrat holes and the muskrat can get stuck; it was man’s choice to throw the beer can on the ground since he could not be patient and throw in a trash can. A motorcyclist can run over one of the turtle eggs; it was man’s choice to make a track so they could have a little fun. All of the pairings suggest that humanity’s creation (the highway, beer can and motorcycle tracks) are a negative impact on the natural world (ducks, muskrat hole and turtle eggs). Humanity’s creation is a negative impact because it is damaging the natural world. As society sees it as pollution, contamination, extinction of animals, etc.... Dillard used deleterious imagery with the pairings because they showed how harmful, damaging and negative humanity’s choice can be on the natural world. If civilization looked at nature as a necessity the natural world would be safe.
Dillard reaches the message by proposing that humanity has no personal connection with nature. In the story, Dillard has an interaction with a weasel “If you look and I looked at each other that way, our skulls would split and drop to our shoulders. But we don’t. We keep our skulls” (Dillard 118). This phrase is explaining that when the narrator and the weasel met eyes it felt