Ashley G.
Professor Zoller
Life Narratives
10/4/2012
Response to “Seeing”
by Annie Dillard
What is
sight? There is the scientific definition that says that it is light hitting
our eyes and transmitting a signal to our brains that we interpret to make
images. Annie Dillard seems to say that there is a difference between looking
at something and “seeing” something. In this narrative she talks for a bit
about blind individuals who have gotten their sight back. Some of those “cured”
of their blindness will keep their eyes shut because they do not understand
sight or dislike it. I was struck by this and then decided to experiment.
Closing my eyes I felt around at my work space and ran my fingers across a
book, some fabric and my cell phone. I tried to forget what the sensations of
touch meant to me as someone who has never been blind. It was nearly
impossible. As much as I tried I could not stop “seeing” the image of what I was
touching in my mind. I can only imagine the shock that someone who had been
blind their whole life would experience when seeing for the first time. I put
so much stock in sight. I am a writer and could write without seeing, using braille
for example, but what would I write about? It seems that everything I write I visualize
in my mind. I am a very visual person; if someone is explaining something to me
I usually want to see it for myself. Even after all this thought I still mull
over the same question. What is sight?
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