Nature 2

Nature 2

In the story "The Gift", by Louis Dollarhide, he makes use of nature imagery on both the human relationship with objects and nature. The Oxford Reference Dictionary defines "nature" as "1. The phenomena of the physical world as a whole . . . 2. A thing's essential qualities; a person's or animal's innate character . . . 4. Vital force, functions, or needs." We will see how Louis Dollarhide comments on all of these.

Several natural themes run through the story, one of which is the image of a stormy sea. "The treetops where the opposite banks had been, the swamp was an empty sea, awash with sheets of rain, the river lost somewhere in its vastness." (Pg. 357) Dollarhide also uses personification describing the sea as a person. "Down the length and breadth of the swamp others were fighting to save what little they could, maybe even their lives." (Pg. 357) The author bonds the nature with the woman. Her house is built to ride with the flow of the flood. The only things around her are nature. Another images that runs through the story are the trees. The planks of the trees sounds like they are crying in the dark. "Planks creaked and she could distinguish the sounds of object being knocked over." (Pg. 358) The planks sounds like they are scratching on the wall as if it's going to tear its way in. The nature acts like people around her.

Another image that Dollarhide uses is the house. We quickly see how Dollarhide identifies...

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