Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Summary | Chapter 1 Summary

The Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is, on the surface, a stream of consciousness journey through the natural world around Tinker Creek, the author's home. This book alternately uplifts and depresses the sensitive reader, as Dillard offers a no-holds-barred look at both the beauty and the ugliness of the natural world. Underneath the surface discussions of how a multitude of plants, animals, and insects survive and procreate, though, is a mysticism and spirituality that Dillard dives into in order to understand her place in this seemingly paradoxical world.

Dillard opens this first chapter remembering an old tomcat that she used to have. The cat often jumps in through the open window and climbs on Dillard's chest to get her attention. The old tom usually smells of blood and urine and leaves rose-shaped paw prints on her nightgown. As Dillard stands before the mirror, still slightly muddled from sleep, she wonders about the blood and the meaning of the blood. Dillard recalls what a woman recently told her, "'Seem like we're just set down here...and don't nobody know why."'

Later, when Dillard lives in the Blue Ridge area of Virginia, on Tinker Creek, she frequently remembers the old tom's nocturnal greetings like a powerful script that plays through her memory. Dillard thinks of the creek as an anchor that keeps her steady in the current of life. She visualizes the creek as an active mystery, while the mountains around her are passive mysteries. To Dillard, the creeks represent the world with its continual changes; whereas, the mountains receive Dillard's spirit and hold it for her, creating a home.

When it is a bright day, the water trail is best, because the water reflects backlight, enlivening the area. Dillard follows the curve of the Creek, as it loops back towards her house. When she comes to the cow bridge that crosses the creek, she sits and watches the steers, which seem almost manmade. She charges the steers, which block her access to the fence she must slide under. After leaving the fence behind, she runs across a sycamore trunk to alight upon the island that bisects Tinker Creek. Dillard makes a pilgrimage to this island every month. Today, she sits on the dry grass on the sluggish side of the creek.

Several summers ago, when Dillard is walking along the creek, she comes upon a small, green tree frog halfway in the water. Peering closely at the frog, she watches as it dissolves before her eyes, leaving only the skin floating. A giant water beetle had sucked out the innards of the frog. Witnessing this scene causes Dillard to philosophize about the nature of God and the universe. The horror of an animal, which devours its prey while still alive, causes Dillard to wonder if the beetle was created in jest. If the bug were not made in sport, was it made in earnest? Yet, if one depicts a universe that encompasses such cruelty, how does one include the grace and beauty of that same world? Dillard had once seen a mockingbird make a dive bomb towards the grass, making a feather light landing at the last moment. Upon witnessing the bird, Dillard decides that beauty and grace occur, regardless of whether a human is there to witness it.

The mockingbird reminds Dillard of a time when she saw a group of sharks conducting a feeding frenzy off the east coast of Florida. Dillard can see the shark bodies roiling and heaving full of grace and power, yet she is also aware of the violence as the sharks tear into the school of fish. How such awesome artistry can be laced with such savagery, Dillard wonders. We do not know the answer to that question, Dillard concludes, but she believes we must use a broader perspective in order to ask the right question.

The sun is setting, as Dillard runs across the sycamore on her way homeward. Everything is covered in a layer of dusk, dulling the landscape. A last ray of sunshine pierces the evening clouds and races across the landscape. Dillard holds her breath. As the sun sinks closer to the horizon, Dillard circles the landscape with her eyes, noticing how each tree, mountain and hedge fades in and out, as the light peeks through the clouds and is hidden again. By the time Dillard is home, there is nothing left; the entire light show has drifted westward, leaving a black space that hides everything.

Dillard knows that she is no scientist, but just the same, she will explore her valley and report the unmapped frontiers in which she may find herself. She is an explorer, yet also a stalker. She is the grooved arrow like the Indians of the area used to carve, so that if the deer did not die, the hunter could follow the trail of blood that flows down the groove and drips to the ground. This book is the trail of Dillard's wanderings.