Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard
"Holy the Firm" by Annie Dillard is a contemplative work that delves into the complex relationship between suffering, faith, and the divine. Set against the backdrop of Puget Sound, the book unfolds over three days and is divided into three sections. The first section examines the death of a moth drawn to a flame, serving as a powerful metaphor for the nature of divinity and the presence of suffering in the world. The second section introduces the tragic story of a young girl who survives a plane crash yet suffers severe injuries, prompting Dillard to grapple with the question of a benevolent God in the face of innocent suffering.
In the final section, Dillard seeks to reconcile the existence of a merciful God with the harsh realities of life, concluding that God owes no explanations to humanity. She reflects on the illusion of control that people hold dear, suggesting that humans are merely passengers in a journey that transcends understanding. Through her exploration, Dillard expresses a vision that underscores the interconnectedness of all creation and the divine presence that, while often invisible, sustains the universe. Many interpret "Holy the Firm" as a testament to faith amidst chaos, as Dillard navigates her own existential challenges and reaffirms her belief in a transcendent reality.
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Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1977
Type of work: Nonfiction
The Work
In Holy the Firm Dillard explores the metaphysical and religious concerns that inform her first two books, Tickets for a Prayer Wheel and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. In this book, Dillard looks more closely at the problem of pain: How can one reconcile the existence of pain, suffering, and death with a belief in a benevolent God? Set near Puget Sound, Washington, where Dillard lived while writing it, the book is short, spanning only three days. In the first of its three sections, “Newborn and Salted,” Dillard describes a moth being attracted to the flame of a candle and burned to death. The moth’s death is an image to which she often returns in her discussion of the nature of the divinity.
The second section, “God’s Tooth,” is concerned with Julie Norwich, a seven-year-old child who, with her father, survives the crash of his small plane. Unlike her father, however, the child is horribly burned, and her face is destroyed. Asking if God were responsible for this tragedy, Dillard concludes that God cannot be present in a world where an innocent child is mutilated for no reason. “Holy the Firm,” the book’s third and final section, attempts to find a place for a merciful God in a violent world. The solution Dillard achieves is that God owes humankind no explanations. Because God created humans and not vice versa, God is not required to answer to them. Dillard also concludes that the control that people cherish so dearly is only an illusion, that humans are only passengers on earth, along for the ride rather than behind the steering wheel, and on a journey whose destination they cannot know.
For Dillard, accepting or affirming that God is the foundation for all things allows her to believe again in the unity of all things, even when some things—such as the disfigurement of a child—seem unjust. Acceptance of the ineffable nature of God enables Dillard to reaffirm her desire to proclaim the mysteries of the universe through her art and her life, thereby reaffirming the essentially divine nature of creation.
Many people see Holy the Firm as a powerful visionary statement, a testament to the triumph of faith in a seemingly irrational universe. Dillard does not find the role of prophet a comfortable one and denies that her intention was anything other than to describe her personal visionary experience. As in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Teaching a Stone to Talk, Dillard again struggles to work through her dark night of the soul, her bleakest despair. Like other mystics, she must find a way to come to terms with those things that challenge her belief in a divine purpose for the world.
In Holy the Firm, Dillard reaches an understanding of God’s relationship to her world and the natural world that she observes around her. She seems able to resolve the contradictions by something that esoteric Christianity calls “Holy the Firm,” a universal substance that keeps the human world in touch with God—a god who remains present but invisible and unknowable. This is enough to allow Dillard to believe that God exists and for her to worship him.
Bibliography
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