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Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard

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The 1982 essay “Living Like Weasels” by Annie Dillard examines the idea of coexisting with nature by analysing the behaviour of weasels. Dillard considers how her vision of existence and the human condition was profoundly affected by an interaction she had with a weasel.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- In the essay, Dillard explores the deeper significance of this experience, emphasising the value of living genuinely and accepting our inner wildness.

Dillard begins the article by recounting her encounter with a weasel in the wild. She is impressed by the weasel’s agility and concentration as it pursues a chipmunk, holding onto it despite obvious danger.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Weasels are known for their tenacity and total submission to their instincts, and Dillard sees this as a metaphor for the unwavering pursuit of passion and purpose.

Dillard reflects on the human condition and our propensity to live up to social standards in light of this finding. She raises concerns about how civilisation stifles us and separates us from our instinctual selves. According to Dillard, we have lost touch with our instincts, which has caused us to feel detached from nature and unfulfilled in our lives.

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Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Dillard believes that we can take a cue from the style of existence of the weasel. She exhorts us to live truly without the limitations placed on us by society, to embrace our wildness, and to give in to our impulses. She thinks that through doing this, we might rediscover who we really are and develop a stronger bond with nature.

In her reflections on the fleeting nature of existence and the certainty of death, Dillard’s essay adopts a philosophical tone. She thinks about how the weasel encountered death while pursuing the chipmunk and observes that it is a necessary aspect of the cycle of life. According to Dillard, accepting the truth of death might help us better understand the world and how we fit into it. She contends that we may better appreciate the beauty and value of life if we accept our mortality.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Dillard uses vibrant images and beautiful language to express her ideas throughout the entire article. She gives a thorough account of the weasel’s movements, emphasising both its grace and aggression. Readers can picture the scenario and understand the weasel’s plight and resolve thanks to Dillard’s vivid description.

Dillard uses works by philosophers and authors in addition to her own observations to bolster her claims. She makes reference to philosopher Martin Buber, who emphasised the value of having a sincere connection to the natural world and everything around us. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who discussed how humans should cooperate with nature, is another source that Dillard mentions.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Dillard admits the difficulties of living like savages in the modern world towards the end of the essay. She is aware that our lives are linked with duties and commitments that can prevent us from truly embracing our wildness. But she also exhorts people to make an effort to live authentically every day and to look for opportunities to connect with nature.

About Annie Dillard

Annie Dillard is an acclaimed American writer, poet, and essayist known for her introspective and lyrical style of writing. She was born on April 30, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dillard’s works often explore themes of nature, spirituality, and the human condition, and she has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to literature.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Dillard’s best-known work is her memoir “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” published in 1974, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. In this book, she reflects on her experiences living near Tinker Creek in Virginia, contemplating the natural world and the mysteries of existence.

Throughout her career, Dillard has published a diverse range of works, including essays, poetry, and fiction. Some of her notable essay collections include “Teaching a Stone to Talk” (1982) and “The Writing Life” (1989), which offer profound insights into her thoughts on writing, nature, and spirituality.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Annie Dillard’s writing is often characterized by its rich imagery, detailed observations, and philosophical musings. She has a unique ability to capture the awe and wonder of the natural world while exploring deeper existential questions. Her prose is known for its poetic qualities and its ability to engage readers on both intellectual and emotional levels.

Dillard’s literary contributions have earned her numerous honors, including the New York Press Club Award for Excellence in Journalism and the Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award. Her works have been widely praised for their profound insights, lyrical prose, and ability to evoke a sense of wonder and contemplation.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Annie Dillard continues to write and inspire readers with her thought-provoking and evocative works. Her writing serves as a testament to the power of observation, introspection, and our connection to the natural world.

Annie Dillard’s essay “Living Like Weasels” offers a powerful reflection on the human condition and the need for a deeper connection with nature. Through her encounter with a weasel, Dillard highlights the importance of living authentically, embracing our wildness, and surrendering to our passions.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- She challenges the constraints imposed by society and encourages readers to find moments of connection with the natural world.

Dillard’s essay serves as a reminder that we often lose touch with our primal instincts and the innate wisdom of nature. She suggests that by observing the weasel’s unwavering pursuit of its prey and its acceptance of death as part of the circle of life, we can gain insight into living more fully and embracing the transience of our existence.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- The vivid imagery and poetic language employed by Dillard in her writing draw readers into the scene, allowing them to experience the weasel’s grace and determination firsthand. By incorporating the perspectives of philosophers and writers like Martin Buber and Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dillard strengthens her arguments about the significance of reconnecting with nature and aligning ourselves with its wisdom.

While acknowledging the challenges of fully living like weasels in the modern world, Dillard urges readers to seek moments of connection and authenticity. She acknowledges that responsibilities and obligations may hinder our ability to live in complete harmony with nature, but she encourages us to strive for authenticity in our daily lives and to embrace the wildness within us.

Living Like Weasels Essay Summary By Annie Dillard- Ultimately, “Living Like Weasels” prompts us to reconsider our relationship with nature and the way we navigate our lives. By embracing our passions, acknowledging our mortality, and cultivating a deeper connection with the natural world, we can find greater fulfillment, purpose, and a sense of belonging. Dillard’s essay serves as a call to live authentically and to rediscover the beauty and significance of living in harmony with the wildness of the world around us.

Q: When was Annie Dillard’s essay “Living Like Weasels” published?

A: Annie Dillard’s essay “Living Like Weasels” was published in 1982.

Q: What is the main message of “Living Like Weasels”?

A: The main message of “Living Like Weasels” is to encourage readers to live authentically, embrace their wildness, and cultivate a deeper connection with nature. Dillard highlights the weasel’s unwavering pursuit of its instincts as a metaphor for the unyielding pursuit of passion and purpose in human life.

Q: How does Annie Dillard describe her encounter with the weasel in the essay?

A: Annie Dillard vividly describes her encounter with the weasel, emphasizing its agility, focus, and determination as it chases down a chipmunk. Her descriptive language allows readers to visualize the scene and empathize with the weasel’s struggle and unwavering pursuit.

Q: What role does death play in “Living Like Weasels”?

A: Death is a recurring theme in “Living Like Weasels.” Dillard reflects on the weasel’s encounter with death during its pursuit of the chipmunk and emphasizes that death is an integral part of the circle of life. She suggests that by acknowledging our mortality, we can better appreciate the beauty and preciousness of life.

Q: How does Annie Dillard support her arguments in the essay?

A: Annie Dillard supports her arguments in “Living Like Weasels” by drawing on the works of philosophers and writers such as Martin Buber and Ralph Waldo Emerson. She incorporates their perspectives on the importance of maintaining a genuine relationship with nature and aligning ourselves with its wisdom.

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Annie Dillard: Essays

Identity theme in “living like weasels” anonymous college.

In Annie Dillard’s essay, “Living Like Weasels”, she reminisces on her encounter with a weasel, and even though the weasel was a mere animal, it invoked life altering thoughts from within the author. Dillard compares the life of a wild weasel to the life of humans. The weasel is free do whatever it pleases because it lives out of necessity, while humans have burdened themselves with choices, worries and possible outcomes. Animals are defined by their freedom and relatively uncomplicated life. On the other hand, humans are defined by the choices they make, how they perform under pressure and the lasting effect they have on the people around them. Who are you and what truly defines you? All of these ideas help tie into the theme of identity.

Again, after Dillard’s encounter with the weasel, she begins to compare the life and choices of a weasel to that of a human. What makes the life of a weasel so different from the life of a human? During a weekend retreat, “I [came] to Hollins Pond not so much to learn how to live as, frankly, to forget about it” (Dillard 1). Dillard came to Hollins Pond seeking peace from her normal life, and to her, animals lived simple lives that did not require many important decisions. Additionally, they...

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Literary Analysis and Review of Annie Dillard's "Living Like Weasels"

Literary Analysis and Review of Annie Dillard's "Living Like Weasels" essay

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Teaching a Stone to Talk

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Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters

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Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters is a collection of essays written by Annie Dillard and originally published in 1982. Dillard is an American writer whose 1974 narrative nonfiction work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Throughout the 14 essays of Teaching a Stone to Talk , Dillard touches on themes of nature, God, time, and memory . Some of the essays have received literary awards and distinctions: “Life on the Rocks: The Galapagos” received the New York Women’s Press Club award, and in 2000, “Total Eclipse” was included in the collection The Best American Essays of the Century , edited by Joyce Carol Oates. The edition of Teaching a Stone to Talk referenced in this guide is the HarperCollins e-book revised edition, published in 2019.

Dillard’s first essay, “Total Eclipse,” describes the awe and fear she feels as she and her husband view a solar eclipse. Dillard has trouble returning to normal life afterwards, though she notes that mankind is remarkably resilient at clinging to the mundane after encounters with the extraordinary. Essay 2, “An Expedition to the Pole,” compares Dillard’s attempts to find the divine in Catholic mass with 19th-century polar expeditions. The essay switches back and forth between two narratives—one following the obstacles Dillard must overcome, like bad singing and hokey bands, and the other following the sometimes stubborn, ridiculous, and unfathomable choices made by polar explorers. Essay 3, “Living Like Weasels,” describes Dillard’s encounter with a weasel at her local pond. After briefly making eye contact with the weasel, Dillard feels as though she temporarily enters its mind, and she reflects upon the novelty of throwing off human shackles and living like an animal.

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In the fourth essay, “In the Jungle,” Dillard recalls her visit to the Napo River in Ecuador and the incomparable experiences she had there that allowed her to temporarily find peace. Essay 5, “The Deer at Providencia,” continues Dillard’s time in Ecuador. Stopping to have lunch, Dillard and her other North American companions see a deer that has been caught and will later be killed. Dillard uses the experience to reflect on the nature of suffering.

In Essay 6, “Teaching a Stone to Talk,” Dillard begins with an anecdote about her neighbor whose life mission is to teach a stone to talk. Dillard uses this subject as a jumping-off point to describe mankind’s inability to communicate with nature, and by extension, with God. Essay 7, “On a Hill Far Away,” begins with Dillard taking a walk near her home in Virginia, where she encounters a strange, lonely little boy, whose mother Dillard met on an earlier ramble. Essay 8, “Lenses,” compares Dillard’s lifelong fascination with watching microscopic organisms through lenses with watching birds flying through binoculars.

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In the ninth essay, “Life on the Rocks: The Galápagos,” Dillard muses on how ideas, like other organisms, evolve over time. Just as living organisms are impacted by the land they live on, the land is impacted by the creatures that live on it. Everything continuously evolves. Essay 10, “A Field of Silence,” describes Dillard’s encounter with the divine. While living on a farm, Dillard goes outside one morning and experiences a strange, surreal shift in the world, which she believes to have been angels. Essay 11, “God in the Doorway,” begins with Dillard’s childhood memory of seeing Santa Claus, who was actually her neighbor, Miss White. Confusing Santa with God, Dillard runs away in terror. Dillard believes that sometimes we are not ready for the things God wants to teach us.

In Essay 12, “Mirages,” Dillard watches a mirage on the water. Boats seemingly twist into odd shapes, and the water becomes a mountainous terrain, then goes back to normal. Dillard believes that what we see in mirages are just as real as other things we see and shouldn’t be discounted. In Essay 13, “Sojourner,” Dillard begins by describing mangrove trees and their ability to detach from shorelines and form their own miniature islands to survive out at sea. Dillard feels that mankind emulates this experience, cast into a harsh, unforgiving planet and managing to build civilization and culture. The final essay, “Aces and Eights,” recalls Dillard’s weekend trip to a cabin with a nine-year-old child who is suggested to be her younger self. Dillard made a pact with herself as a child that she would never grow up and change in the way that grownups always do, and Dillard tries to honor that promise by letting the child decide how to spend their time over the weekend. However, Dillard ultimately did grow up; aging is inevitable, and time passes no matter how hard we try to memorialize the past through memories.  

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Analysis of Annie Dilliard's "Living Like Weasels".

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“Living Like Weasels” Literally? by Logan DeSanto

Humans have the right to choose a lifestyle best tailored to their wants and needs. From the earliest stages of childhood to the latest stages of adolescence, humans are encouraged to diversify their interests. We are advised to find many ways to feel satisfaction. In Annie Dillard’s “Living Like Weasels,” she advises us to simplify our lives by finding a lifestyle we are capable of committing to, rather than diversifying our interests. Dillard urges people to follow their instincts. She uses a storytelling method of writing with descriptive imagery to try to change our perspective on life. Although I agree with Dillard to an extent, I believe humans have too many responsibilities interfering with her suggested lifestyle.

We choose various ways to live, focusing on what interests and excites us, in addition to meeting our responsibilities. We are told in early years not to settle but rather to find multiple passions we can get involved in, entailing a variety of ways to fill our days. Generally, people have followed this instruction provided by guidance counselors or role model figures, such as parents or older siblings. We find several activities to participate in, jobs to fill, and families to raise while fulfilling our own needs on the side. Some people, of course, find themselves busier than others. Dillard contradicts this advice and way of life by advocating for us to focus on a singular interest. She disagrees with the standard advice taught to us for many years by parents, guardians, or other role models. She pushes for the figures in our lives to inform us of her ideal type of lifestyle. Beyond these opposing figures, she encourages such a lifestyle for anyone, especially for individuals who take on many responsibilities.

Dillard does not state her point early on in her essay. Her essay begins with a story focused on a weasel and an eagle. This story describes how an eagle preys on a weasel. The story includes details describing the weasel’s instinct when caught. The weasel does not necessarily run or get away from the eagle. Instead, it is found dead in the eagle’s mouth. This scene introduces the reversal of values Dillard points out, which is her purpose for writing. The weasel follows the instinct and risk when encountered with the eagle, rather than using its intellect to play it safe. As humans we value our intellect to guide us to safety through risks. As the essay progresses, Dillard describes her own encounter with the weasel, describing how the weasel intrigued her. She admits she was “in [the] weasel’s brain for sixty seconds and he was in [hers]” (Dillard 150). The meeting with the weasel led her to compare the life of a weasel to one of a human. She advises us to follow our instincts because in the end, life is short. This advice is what a weasel does naturally. She believes we can find our “single necessity” as a weasel does (151). Dillard’s encounter with the weasel allowed her to learn how to live by choosing what is necessary instead of making ordinary choices.

Dillard uses different literary elements to relay her message to her audience. As I have said, Dillard waits until the end to directly reveal her message. She fills her essay with a first-person point of view and vivid imagery. She offers her perspective on a weasel and life while recollecting a personal experience. Her experience contains descriptive details that provide a violent image about the life of a weasel. She describes the weasel killing as an instinct, as part of what is essential to them. On the other hand, she describes what happens to the weasel after following its instinct. She forces readers to imagine a weasel “dragging the carcasses home” and the weasel’s “dry skull” after its instinct led to its death (148). By using these phrases, Dillard grabs the attention of her reader by using words associated with death and killing. She utilizes features of the routine of the weasel following its instinct to arrive at the message she sends to value instinct and live by necessity.

I believe Dillard provides somewhat reasonable advice to live by. She reminds us we can live by choice, focusing on a “single necessity” as a weasel does (151). Still, I insist that humans have far too many responsibilities to be able to live only by what it is necessary for themselves. In many cases, that attitude can seem selfish, or even inhuman. Our diversifying interests are what make us unique as individuals. If we were to be so forward with life, consequences could occur that we would have to deal with eventually. Dillard is right when she states we choose how to live, but she seems unrealistic when she advises us to find a singular way of living.

Dillard’s methods of writing, including storytelling, first person point of view, and vivid imagery, tell a tale ending in a message: to simplify our lives by finding a committed lifestyle. She changes the readers perspective on many levels, from values to interests. She attempts to persuade us to live such a lifestyle, although many of the role models in our lives have advised us to diversify our interests, which is essentially the opposite advice. While I agree it is beneficial to live a more simplified life, overall, I doubt that a lifestyle built from a single interest is completely plausible.

Works Cited

Dillard, Annie. “Living Like Weasels.” Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creation Nonfiction: Work from 1970-Present, edited by Lex Williford and Michael Martone, Touchstone, 2007, pp. 147-151.

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Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings” Essay

The relationship between humanity and the rest of the natural world is a theme often explored in literature. Dillard, in her essay “Living Like Weasels,” and Hogan, in an entire collection of essays titled “Dwellings,” both explore this topic and offer their versions of what humans can learn from nature at large. Dillard believes that a simple weasel can teach people much by its sheer example of living a down-to-earth life free of unproductive doubts. Hogan second this belief and stresses that humanity should treat nature with respect and reverence rather than consumer interest. Yet while both authors agree that humans can learn from nature, they disagree on the means of doing so: Dillard explicitly rejects the scientific approach, but Hogan readily accepts it as long as it is respectful.

In her essay, Dillard uses the weasel as a symbol of living a simple, pure, and down-to-earth life governed by necessity rather than constant deliberations and choices – something humanity could benefit from. In her text, the weasel acts as an embodiment of such life: determined free of unnecessary doubt, simple as a wild animal’s needs. It is in this sense that Dillard suggests humanity could learn something from a weasel: not the intricacies of stalking and killing the prey, but the ability to only concentrate on the few essential things. According to her, a person should find something that really matters and, figuratively speaking, latch onto it as hard as the weasel does on its prey, and never let go. The benefits of such life are not as much in its mindless simplicity, although it is also a part of its appeal. Dillard also stresses that living like weasel possesses a dignity of a particular sort, which is the decency of living without bias or premeditated motive. These reflections pave the way for the essay’s central thought: humanity should spare less effort to distinguish itself from the rest of nature and devote more time to learning from it.

Hogan shares this conviction and displays it more than once in the course of her essays. She emphasizes the same idea of closeness to nature rather than separation from it through numerous examples, and just like Dillard, uses the imagery of nature to deliver her message. The images used may range from a wolf’s fur and a bird’s feather to something as simple and mundane as corn, but all serve the same idea of union with nature. The notion behind all essays that comprise the book is essentially the same as in Dillard’s text. According to Hogan, humanity’s focus should not be on what separates humans as a unique species from the rest of nature, but on what unites them with the natural world. This call for a respectful union with nature rather than separation from is a similarity between the two authors.

However, Dillard and Hogan disagree on the precise means of engaging in the reciprocal relationship with nature they both seek. Dillard empathically rejects the scientific approach – this is evident in her brash rejections of such concepts as “approach-avoidance conflict” as possible explanations of her encounter with the eponymous weasel. Rejecting it, she insists instead that her eye contact with the animal enabled a direct mind-to-mind connection, and, this interprets her reunion with nature – however brief – as a spiritual and even mystical experience. Dillard opines that a respectful relationship between nature and humanity requires something other than scientific analysis. According to her, a person should not explain nature but, rather, try to experience it directly, just like the author did in her encounter with a weasel.

Hogan, however, does not reject scientific analysis as a means of becoming closer to nature. Instead of only borrowing from her personal experience with nature, the author also uses scientific evidence to support her points. More than that, she explicitly points out that science is a viable and useful way of comprehending nature and learning from it as long as the scientist in question respects the phenomena he or she studies. Hogan finds an example of such a responsible researcher in Barbara McClintock – a botanist who studied maize genetics to learn what the corn had to say. Thus, while Dillard maintains that spiritual unification with the natural world is the only – or, at least, vastly preferable – way to become closer to it, Hogan opines that discarding science is premature at least. These varying approaches to scientific analysis as a way to respectfully learn from nature are a notable difference between the author’s convictions.

As one can see, “Living Like Weasels” by Dillard and “Dwellings” by Hogan explore similar themes from a similar angle, but are, nevertheless, not identical to each other. The authors agree that instead of focusing on what separates humanity from the rest of nature, people should pay attention to what can link them back to the natural world to learn something from it. However, Dillard explicitly rejects the scientific approach to nature while Hogan accepts it as long as it is respectable, and this disagreement constitutes a difference between the authors’ otherwise similar perspectives.

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IvyPanda. (2022, February 8). Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”. https://ivypanda.com/essays/going-back-to-nature-in-living-like-weasels-and-dwellings/

"Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”." IvyPanda , 8 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/going-back-to-nature-in-living-like-weasels-and-dwellings/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”'. 8 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”." February 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/going-back-to-nature-in-living-like-weasels-and-dwellings/.

1. IvyPanda . "Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”." February 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/going-back-to-nature-in-living-like-weasels-and-dwellings/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Going Back to Nature in “Living Like Weasels” and “Dwellings”." February 8, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/going-back-to-nature-in-living-like-weasels-and-dwellings/.

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How to Grow Old Like Isabella Rossellini

“How do I fulfill the rest of my life? That question came to me very clearly at 45, and I didn’t have an answer.”

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  • March 3, 2024

If you go to Isabella Rossellini’s Instagram page — and I recommend you do — you will see the 71-year-old actress/director/model/farmer wearing a giant woolly hat and vest, beaming with joy in the sunshine at her farm on Long Island. Another photo shows her staring off into the distance, her face proudly unretouched . Scrolling through, I often wonder how Rossellini is so comfortable in her own skin at an age when many women struggle in theirs.

Rossellini’s early life was, in some ways, defined by other people’s fame. She looks strikingly like her mother, the Swedish Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman. Her father, the director Roberto Rossellini, was a giant of Italian cinema. She was married to Martin Scorsese, and another partner, David Lynch, famously directed her in the 1986 film “Blue Velvet.” But she also built her own interesting and varied career, becoming one of the most recognizable models in the world as the face of Lancôme until, in her 40s, the beauty brand dumped her for being too old. Rossellini was suddenly faced with a question, she told me, that she’s still working through today: “Who am I, and how do I fulfill the rest of my life?”

The short answer is that she wrote books, went back to school, bought a farm, learned to be single, got rehired by Lancôme and kept acting. In the film “La Chimera,” directed by the Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher and opening in theaters on March 29, Rossellini plays a Tuscan matriarch who’s aging with a lot less equanimity than Isabella herself. (She also has a small part in the new film “Spaceman,” starring Adam Sandler.) Rossellini just started “a little experiment with sheep” at her farm, partnering with design schools to help students better understand wool, and describes herself as diligently following whatever amuses her. “I just play,” she says. “I’m playful. And I became increasingly more playful with age.”

I will confess that I have been slightly obsessing over your farm, where you are right now. It’s clearly both a refuge and also hard work. Did you always think this is what you’d be doing in your 70s? Because when I dream of my 70s, I’m not working quite as hard as you are. Well, you know, I say you need two ingredients to open a farm: optimism and ignorance. Optimism is like: Oh, it’s a piece of a dream, wouldn’t it be great to have it? Sure, I can do a farm! And ignorance is how hard it is — how hard it is workwise, but also to make it financially viable. All these little farms in the Hudson Valley or in Long Island, we are all struggling. How do you make it? Yet it’s such a contribution to the community, and it opened up so many possibilities and fills my mind with wonder, and I have to study hard to understand how to run it well.

What is it about the hard work that you find so compelling? There are little farms that don’t exist anymore, because there’s no money and it’s a lot of work. So why do it? It started with my love for animals. I always had dogs and cats, and then my father, when I was 14 years old, gave me Konrad Lorenz’s book “King Solomon’s Ring.” Lorenz is a founder of the science of ethology — the science of animal behavior — and I read that book. It was like an illumination. This is what I want to do. And when I became older and there was less work as a model and as an actress and my children were grown up, I thought, Well, maybe I’ll go back to school and study ethology. And so in my 60s, I signed up.

A black-and-white photograph of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini in 1954 with their children.

I think I’ve seen you describe the farm as a kind of matriarchy. In fact, it’s called Mama Farm . What draws you to female spaces at this stage in your life? There are a lot of women farmers. I took a seminar on shepherding, because I wanted to understand about sheep, and it was eight different shepherds talking about their experience, and six of them were women. I was very surprised. You know, Alice Rohrwacher, the fantastic film director, she’s the daughter of a beekeeper. She lives in the country, and she said something very touching to me. I went to visit her in the country where she was editing the film, and like every director she was very worried about Is the film going to be accepted? Is it going to be successful? And she said to me something a little bit naïve, but full of wisdom. She said: I have my vegetable garden, and if anything goes bad and the film is not successful and I can never make another film again, I can still survive. I have my garden. I know how to farm. I always tell my daughter, the first thing you have to learn is to farm because then you’re independent.

You are talking about how women are self-sufficient, and I was reading your autobiography. It was delightful. But it was published in 1997. You were around 45 years old, and your memoir ends at this moment of profound change for you. It was kind of like this cliffhanger: You had been the face of Lancôme for so long, and then they ended your contract because they said you were too old. You had two young children at the time. You’ve spoken a lot about the instability of that period. But I’m wondering now, looking back, can you see it as the start of some exciting changes in your life? Absolutely. I worked with Lancôme for 15 years. Then I was let go for 20 years. And now I’ve worked again with them for 10 years. And one of the executives said to me: Oh, we should have never let you go. You should have stayed with us all the time. And I said: No. Having this big contract is a little bit like winning the lottery. You’re very lucky. But you never really can measure, Can I make it in my life? If I didn’t have Lancôme, can I make it? Can I support my two children? And yes, I can. I went back to university. I made my own films. And I’m financially independent.

One of the things that was striking to me about how you grew up is that there was a lot of financial instability. It’s incredible, because my parents, you know, my mom was Ingrid Bergman, my father, Roberto Rossellini, they were a very known actress and filmmaker. And sometimes people think that with fame comes money. But it doesn’t. My father was always an experimental filmmaker, he was always very rigorous. He was an influential filmmaker, but he was never a box-office success.

People would come and repossess things from your house! So I’m wondering, did losing your main source of income with Lancôme at that moment bring back childhood fears? The opposite! I did see when I was a little girl things confiscated from our house to pay my father’s debts. But three days later, the house was empty and I could ride my bike in my apartment. And I was very pleased about that. And then we continue to work, and we continue to live, and you can redesign your life. And I think a lot of people go through that. It strengthened me.

So you felt that you were prepared for that moment, actually? I don’t know that I was prepared for Lancôme to let me go, because we were so successful that I took it for granted. At the time Lancôme said that women dream to be young and that advertisements for perfume and cosmetics are all about seduction, so that idea is associated with a younger woman, not a woman in her 40s. And advertising is about a dream. It’s not about reality. Even if there were a lot of clients of Lancôme that were in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, they gave me that rationale. And I was sad, because I was very successful. I kind of invented the work of a spokesperson. It didn’t exist. Be beautiful and shut up: That was the job of a model. And I thought it was thanks to my ability to talk to the press, or be gracious in public appearances, talking to the clients, that there was an ability. It wasn’t just my youth, or my age, but it was a real skill. And that was not recognized. And that’s what hurt.

Was there something that helped you decide how to move forward? I wrote that book, my biography. It was called “Some of Me,” because I was 45.

You still had a future. That’s right. The second half. But it did help, and also I found in the book my voice — that it is slightly surreal, comical, which became quite evident when I became a director. It is the same voice.

So you’re writing your book, and then you end up going back to school. What was it like to sort of put your mind first in this period? You know, I didn’t have a master plan. I just followed my curiosity diligently: getting up early and finding time to really study or to write. So I was diligent, like the good girl that we are taught to be. But, you know, I’m curious about all the questions you are asking me. Because I have a feeling it has to do with women. We are asking, How do we find our voice? And I feel in your question, the question to me, but it’s a question that you ask yourself: How do I fully realize myself?

It’s a question so many women, especially as we move on in life and the trappings of what we were when we were younger — we’re identified as mothers or partners or someone who is sexually desirable — falls away, not maybe in importance, but it transforms. And so you seem to have led a successful life, and I’m wondering how you did it. This is very interesting. I found that question in Alice’s work, but also in a lot of women’s work, especially this year. There were so many women directors, from the greatest, Greta Gerwig. I mean, only a woman could have made that film about Barbie the way she did. It couldn’t have been made by a man. Often feminism or a political stance lacks a sense of humor. And she brought in the sense of humor, that voice, with irony and intelligence, but also this quest: Who are we? Because we have such a destined role, biological role, of being the wife, the mother. I’m an ethologist. Most animals do not go through menopause, but women do, and some whales do. And there is a hypothesis called the “grandmother hypothesis,” saying why these species live half of their life not being fertile. And probably it evolved because we have played a very important role in society. In the society of whales — I’m looking at whales thinking there is a parallel to me and my menopause [laughs], but the whales that have grandmothers, they are more successful in surviving because there is an extra pair of eyes, and there is the experience. And I wonder if it is the same thing for us. So much of who we are when we are young is determined by our fertility. Are we going to have children? And then we breastfeed them, we have to be there, and that conditions a lot of our life. But then once they go to college or move on, the question becomes: Who am I? How do I fulfill the rest of my life, from 45 on? That question came to me very clearly at 45, and I didn’t have an answer. I still don’t have an answer.

You are unpartnered, and this is actually more common for women as we get older. We’re increasingly unpartnered, increasingly finding support and love with friends and other types of relationships. That seems to be a path that you followed. Yes. Charles Darwin wondered why altruism came about. If evolution is the survival of the fittest, why would altruism live? And Charles Darwin wondered if altruism was an extension of maternal love. The mothers have the babies, they have to breastfeed them, they protect them, and then there’s also cooperation among mothers. And that is the beginning of altruism and communal work. Nowadays in my field of science, ethology, there is a lot of discussion about the survival of the friendliest. How do you create cooperation? And I think that’s very much the domain of women.

But why did you decide not to have a partner? It’s not that I decided not to have a partner. I don’t have a partner, and it happened. It happened step by step. I always had somebody. And my therapist said, Have you ever tried to be alone for six months? And I thought, Well, yeah, that’s strange, I’ve never done that. I always had somebody, or somebody that was promising. So I might have been alone for a few months, but there was somebody that I knew was going to come.

What age was this? When you finally were alone? I was in my 40s. My son was little, and Lancôme was gone. And so I said, OK, I’ll try six months. And it was a great serenity, I have to say. And so what was for me a six-month experiment to be alone became a year, two years, and then it extended to become 25 years. I didn’t want it, and sometimes I feel like it would be nice to have a partner. There are certain things I don’t do because I don’t have a partner.

Like what? Like traveling. Like saying: Oh, my, I’ve never been to India. Let’s take a trip to India. You can still do it nowadays, I’ve learned. You can go with a group, but it’s not the same. Or going to parties. Going to parties is the worst. Entering a party by yourself is the worst, because the most aggressive, boring person, they isolate you and talk, talk, talk, talk. It’s so nice to go with somebody. So I don’t socialize that way because I don’t know how to go to parties by myself. There are certain things that you regret. You regret the camaraderie — not regret, miss the camaraderie. But it didn’t happen. So it’s not a choice. It just didn’t happen.

I look at your Instagram. It’s full of joy. It’s full of this sense of just the possibility of living your life. Exactly. Being joyful and following things that are joyful, following what is amusing you — it’s a very simple ingredient, and I’m doing it. So I don’t understand what you’re digging for. I don’t live my life to be a role model to anybody. I live my life the best I can. Can I say something to you?

Please. I say to you as an older woman and a wise woman: You’re asking me questions about men, as men are who is giving us our identity. They don’t. They do and they don’t. There are many other things that can give you identity: knowledge, children, friendship, curiosity. And we have been limited to wanting to have the men’s gaze to define who we are. It’s not necessary.

I could not agree with you more, so I hope I haven’t offended you by asking about it. No, it’s funny because when I was young, they always asked me, Who was your boyfriend? Whenever I gave an interview to promote films, it was always the question of who is the boyfriend. Now they don’t ask me. I feel young!

There you go! We can continue to talk about beautiful things in life, including men, but not in the sense that if you don’t have a man. …

Well, I watched the film that you wrote, “My Dad Is 100 Years Old,” which you made in 2005 to commemorate the centenary of your father’s birth. And the thing it made me think about is how to grapple with legacy. You lamented in the film that the way your dad saw his craft had been forgotten. And it made me wonder, What does legacy actually mean? Like, what does that word mean to you? It really means nothing. It means I’m going to die. I mean, if you intend by “legacy” a reputation of a person that lives and wants to be remembered, I never had that. And only in America, I have to say, have I heard that question. Because when you’re dead, you’re dead. If you’re lucky, your children remember you. I remember my mom one day — she was in the theater. It was the last performance. And when it was over I was waiting for her, and she wasn’t showing up. So I went back to the theater, and I saw her alone onstage. Everybody was gone, and she was so sad. And I said, Why, what happened? And she said: You know, you do a play and all these talents work together, and then it’s finished, and it all goes away. Film at least lasts. But film doesn’t last. Films deteriorate, and they have to be restored. And even if they are restored, there is no memory. And so when I thought that my parents would be remembered, instead, there was a slow forgetting. And that was really heartbreaking in a way. And that’s what I wanted to capture in the film.

Earlier you were a little exasperated when you sensed me trying to make meaning out of your life or to sort of glean things from the way that you lived. But you seem to be in a place where your own desires and dreams are what are most important. I think that’s what is called old age. You know, they all talk about wrinkles, but talk about the freedom that comes with old age. When you’re young, there is a lot of expectation. You have to make a career; you have to prove that you can be financially independent, you can raise your children, you’re successfully married — there are so many things that you have to prove. But then as you become older, you just are lucky to be alive and healthy. And then you start saying: Well, what do I want? Let me do what I want. I mean, short of hurting anybody. I buy chickens. I play with wool. I play with the heritage breed of sheep. I go back to university and take a course on ornithology. There is a great serenity. You have to make money. I have a pension, and you know, I’ve been lucky, so hopefully I will not be a burden to anyone. And that’s it. I’m ready for the end. Somebody called me the other day and said, We’re doing a podcast called “The Third Act,” or “The Last Act.”

Oh, no. I said, OK, I’d like to do it, but who knows? It may not be the last act! I might come back as a ghost. Be careful.

This interview has been edited and condensed from two conversations.

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    Annie Dillard. Annie Dillard (born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

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  11. Annie Dillard

    Annie Dillard (née Doak; born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 novel Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.From 1980, Dillard taught for 21 years in the English ...

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  18. Living Like Weasels vs Transfiguration: Comparing Two Essays by Annie

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  20. Going Back to Nature in "Living Like Weasels" and "Dwellings" Essay

    Dillard, in her essay "Living Like Weasels," and Hogan, in an entire collection of essays titled "Dwellings," both explore this topic and offer their versions of what humans can learn from nature at large. Dillard believes that a simple weasel can teach people much by its sheer example of living a down-to-earth life free of unproductive ...

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