Each day we travel through life seeing all the wonders God has placed before us, but as we travel on, we have to wonder what it is we really saw. The world is so full of things to look at, but to see those things is something that not everyone has the ability to experience. Zora Neal Hursten and Annie Dillard are two authors who explore thsi subject, writing essays about seeing and what it is to really see. Though the essays are for the most part very different, both writers share some common themes about what it is to see things, rather than simply look at them.
In Hursten's essay, "Seeing the World As It Is", one would first look at the essay and see the primary theme to be race, racism, and/or race pride, but another option of a theme that one could identify in Hursten's essay, as well as Dillard's is the theme of a higher being who controls all things through nature.
An Essay concerning Humane Understanding in four b...
English: Photograph of the cover of the 1966 Lorna...
Dillard UniversityThis theme is expressed by both authors, starting with Hurton's statement, "When I lift my eyes to the towering structures of Manhattan, and look upon the mighty tunnels and bridges of the world, I know that my search is over, and that I can depart in peace. For my soul tells me, "Truly this is the son of God. The rocks and the winds, the tides and the hills are his servants." (Hurston, 248) By this statement, Hurtson is telling her audience how peaceful she feels knowing man is not in charge of the wonders of this world, but God who will keep order in the world, something men are incapable of doing. Hurston had the chance to see the work of God, seeing how wonderful God allowed earth to be was enough...