Annie Dillard's "Living Like Weasels" and the American Dream

Introduction

During the height of the Great Depression in 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term "the American Dream" in his book Epic of America to describe the growing expectations of a better life for all Americans — a life characterized by the pursuit of happiness, significant material rewards, and individual security in exchange for hard work and honesty (Lallas 162). In her essay "Living Like Weasels," Annie Dillard makes the point that people, who are logical and live by choice, can learn from animals, who are illogical and live only by necessity. This paper provides a review and analysis of Dillard's essay to identify what choices are involved in attempting to live out the typical American Dream and how those choices differ from living according to necessity. The review and analysis of the differences between the lifestyles defined by the American Dream and those defined by minimalism is followed by a discussion of the impact that the nonfictional nature of Dillard's essay had on the depiction of the American Dream theme. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings is presented in the conclusion.

Choices Involved in Attempting to Live Out the Typical American Dream

Many young people in the United States are still raised believing that they can "be anything they want to be" as long as they are honest, work hard, and believe in themselves. In return, Americans are supposed to be guaranteed a lifetime of job security, a nice house — preferably in the suburbs — with two new cars in the garage and two-and-a-half children. While this vision has played out in real life for countless Americans who succeeded in realizing the iconic American Dream lifestyle, it is reasonable to suggest that for every one American who has succeeded, many more have failed.

In many of these failed cases, the choices available were far more limited than for those who succeeded, yet American history textbooks often fail to highlight the disparate opportunities available to different classes of people (Loewen 37). As a result, the iconic American Dream has become an "American Nightmare" for many, producing disillusionment and disappointment among Americans today (Thornton 597). According to Dillard, however, this negative outcome could have been avoided — or at least mitigated — by people making life choices rooted in necessity rather than in unattainable, idealized dreams, as discussed further below.

How These Choices Differ from Living According to Necessity

From a strictly pragmatic perspective, weasels do not make choices about what they eat. They use their fine-tuned senses to pursue prey irrespective of its scent, provided it appears edible. As Wolff and Sherman point out, "To a hunting weasel, lunch is lunch" (333). Likewise, Dillard believes she can learn from the weasel because "the weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice, hating necessity and dying at the last ignobly in its talons" (2). From this perspective, the choices many Americans make to achieve the elusive American Dream should be analogous to the manner in which weasels pursue their overarching goal — to survive in a hostile environment. Dillard adds that "I would like to live as I should, as the weasel lives as it should," and that "for me the way is like the weasel's: open to time and death painlessly, noticing everything, remembering nothing, choosing the given with a fierce and pointed will" (2–3).

While Dillard playfully suggests she would like to actually live like a weasel for at least a while — including sleeping in its burrow — she emphasizes that everyone does in fact have the ability to make choices that will make them happy, even if those choices do not conform to what was previously regarded as the American Dream. As Dillard concludes, "We can live any way we want. People take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience — even of silence — by choice" (3). In order to live the way they want rather than the way they do, Dillard suggests that Americans mimic the weasel's behavior by relentlessly latching on to what they want and not letting go until they achieve it — a suggestion reinforced by the nonfictional nature of her essay, as discussed below.

Conclusion

Many people would likely have the same first reaction to encountering a weasel in the wild as Dillard — shocked and even a little scared, given the ferocity of their appearance and the unpredictability of wild animal behavior. The fact that this encounter inspired Dillard to reevaluate her priorities and lifestyle indicates that the author already harbored reservations about her own life, reservations brought into sharp relief by the weasel's minimalistic existence — living as nature intended rather than as some nebulous, unseen "weasel society" dictated. While it is reasonable to conclude that Dillard was jesting about actually wanting to live the life of a weasel, her points about living the life that humans truly should are noteworthy and can help people achieve their own "new and improved" version of the American Dream.

Works Cited

Benesch, Klaus, and Kerstin Schmidt. Space in America: Theory, History, Culture. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. Print.

Dillard, Annie. "Living Like Weasels." Print.

Lallas, Demetri. "From the People, by the People, to the People: The American Dream(s) Debut." Journal of American Culture 37(2) (June 2014): 162–165. Print.

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me. New York: The New Press, 1995. Print.

Thornton, Mark. "American Nightmare: How Government Undermines the Dream of Homeownership." Independent Review 17(4) (Spring 2013): 596–599. Print.

Wolff, Jerry O., and Paul W. Sherman. Rodent Societies: An Ecological & Evolutionary Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Print.