Rhetorical Analysis The Weasel

I don’t want to live like a beast, but I want to learn (or, perhaps, remember?) how to live like a wild animal – the weasel. This creature doesn’t know about the luxury of choice, only life or death. Could I live a life of necessity and instinct? Or are humans too evolved to return to that primal desire? I wish to dictate my life with the purest need of survival and simplicity, rather than with human bias and greed. By discarding our material needs, we can pass with our treasures, instead of worrying whether death will steal them away.

Structure
1. Paragraphs one to two contrasts the unpredictable weasel that acts according to instinct and necessity, while humans act according to their own will and pride. It establishes the bestiality and
freedom of the weasel, as well as the privilege of man. The second segment describes the life Dillard wishes to live. Meeting a weasel was her one and only goal at the time, and she enjoyed the nature on the journey there. She enjoyed the moment and embraced her instinct – which was exactly the type of life she wanted to live. It proves that yes, it is possible to live as a weasel does, as Dillard asks over and over again. The third section describes the first meeting between human and animal, which contrasts the two minds and also highlights the weasel’s simplicity. Dillard implies that the weasel’s actions reflect its raw instincts, while people can’t help their bias and motive behind their actions. Paragraphs fourteen to seventeen concludes the message that she wants to seize the moment and live out of necessity, like a weasel.
2. Segments one and two complement each other by first building the distinct difference between man and animal, then revealing her encounters with the nature. By basically restating the previous section, Dillard highlights contradiction of human versus wild. It also foreshadows her desire to become like a weasel, as she elaborates in further paragraphs. Segments two and three analyze her first encounter with a weasel in chronological order, as she describes how it behaves in its natural habitat. She first started by detailing her surroundings, where she all of a sudden met a weasel. Segments three and four describe her experience meeting a weasel and her reflection afterwards. Dillard had been enchanted by the weasel and believed she’d seen the inside of its brain – and saw pure, raw instinct. Then, she went on to express what she had learnt and how she’d like to live in this way; she concluded with the significance of the piece.
3. Dillard organized the paragraphs to fit her writing style and to make sense to the readers. If she started the paper with paragraphs 3-7 or 8-13, she’d have to reposition the other sections to create a relationship between the sections, as was explained in question 2. However, paragraphs 3-7 doesn’t have an engaging hook to keep the reader engaged, so it doesn’t belong in the beginning of the piece. Paragraphs 8-13 could be used at the beginning, but section one has to follow it because it further develops the idea of the contents of a weasel’s brain. Section two would be lost though, because chronologically, it wouldn’t make sense to describe her surroundings after already meeting a weasel. The main benefit from starting with section three would be that the significance of the paper could be reached faster. Nonetheless, the current way “Living like Weasels” is organized makes the most sense to paint a clear development to the audience.
Syntax
4. “I missed my chance. I should’ve gone for the throat.” Short, concise sentences like these emphasize her desire to live simply. They also add to the piece by highlighting a primitive style of writing, rather than showcasing complex vocabulary and structures. The straightforward sentences also develop her idea, so it doesn’t confuse the reader.
5.
Dillard asks questions eight times throughout the piece. She asks rhetorical questions to evoke the human mind to inquire about existential issues. She isn’t forcing her beliefs upon the reader, but rather discreetly asks the reader to consider her perspective. Dillard isn’t looking for an answer, but rather, she is trying to prove a point.
6. In paragraph 15, Dillard states “I could very calmly go wild,” as well as in paragraph 7, “I was looking down at the weasel, who was looking up at me,” which echoes the reflexive style. It portrays the contrast between human and animal – sane and insane. Also, it creates a vivid and clearer image of both characters, and it provides more insight into her experience.
7. The repetition is used to highlight the main point Dillard tries to convey. It further emphasizes the raw characteristics of the weasel Dillard wants to mimic. Plus, it creates a dramatic effect and adds cadence to her sentences.
Diction
8. Comparisons, in this case, further illustrate the kind of animal Dillard wants to portray. This way, the reader can put themselves in Dillard’s shoes and see what she saw. By comparing its features to other objects – window, lizard, arrowhead, for instance – it connects the writer’s feelings toward the weasel for a more dramatic and sentimental effect. The reader can now relate to the writer, which causes a better understanding and clearer picture of what Dillard is
conveying.
9. Paragraph 15 contains the most mention of violence by describing the weasel’s animalistic ability to attack and seize its prey. This depiction of aggression escalates towards the end of the paper, for the reader to understand its meaning: live life to the fullest. By starting the paper calmly – with a formal, professional tone – as like humans are assumed to act, then escalating to this level of hostility, it emphasizes her desire to live like a weasel.
10. By using polysyndeton, Dillard builds up suspense and it represents the layering of ideas. It adds cadence to her sentence and shows the purity she wishes to learn from the weasel. It improves the clarity of the idea’s development and continues engaging the reader’s interest, as the conclusion wraps up the paper.
11. By including antithesis in her writing, Dillard provides a wider understanding for the audience. The contrast come together to create a balance and paint one picture, which in turn, provides greater insight into her message. She felt contradictory feelings at the time, so she portrays this to the reader.
12. Dillard’s voice seems to be very attractive, personal, casual, and slightly evasive. She uses a first-person perspective to give insight into her feelings and desires through thorough description. Yet, Dillard doesn’t come off as demanding the audience to understand, but rather she just wants to share her experience and reflection. Her words reveal an open-minded and amiable person such as “I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure…” and “Can I help it if it was a blank?” She didn’t straightforwardly state her message; she narrated her story so the reader could draw their own personal meaning from her incident.

Personal Response Our lives are dictated on the choices we make. In this sense, we have the liberty of choice, yet there are certain needs – food, water, human connection – that aren’t up to our free will. Dillard believes that we can only control what we can control. This includes our perspective on the world, our lifestyles, and the people we surround ourselves with. We don’t have to obey by being who society wants us to be, but we have the ability to choose our own path. We have more power over our lives than we think, as in paragraph sixteen she writes, “a weasel lives as he’s meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity.” She doesn’t mean that we should all get drunk, commit crime, and live frivolously; she implies that our lives all have meaning, and it’s up to our own abilities to make our mark on the world. I agree to an extent with her message because I believe we do have this strength, but there might be something holding us back that we can’t control. For example, take Edgar Allan Poe, his poems live on today as one of the greats, but when he was alive, he struggled to make ends meet. In Poe’s case, he “did whatever he wanted” in a sense that he wrote to his heart’s content, yet he couldn’t make enough money to live luxuriously. We do have the ability to make our dreams come true, but they often come at a cost.

Interpretive Summary “I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you.” In other words, I think that by comparing her desires to a weasel, Dillard reveals that she wants to return to a state of living freely and not to fear necessity. Human nature encourages luxury and being self-involved, while animals lean toward a mentality focused on surviving. She yearns for the ferocity a wild animal possesses when it comes to obtaining what it wants. Once she has this fierceness, she believes that “then even death, where you’re going no matter how you live, cannot you part.” In other words, even death can’t take her most precious treasure away, because she prizes herself the most – instead of material goods, such as money. Our dreams being reached give us a greater sense of fulfillment than earthly possessions ever can, so we die without regret. Dillard also believes in taking control over your life, as she writes, “seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop.” In other words, our lives should reflect our identity and vice versa. Until death takes us into oblivion, we should uphold our beliefs and devote ourselves entirely to our ambitions.