Seeing by Annie Dillard #2

"seeing is of course very much a matter of verbalization. Unless I call my atention to what passes before my eyes, I simply won't see it."
page 704

In this quote, the author discusses the matter of seeing. She says that the natural act of looking at something, does not mean you can see it. Seeing something is really when someone uses everything they know and relates it to what they are looking at. In this way, someone can actually see nature instead of just looking at it. This quote represents a large theme in the story.

"One patient called lemonade 'square' because it pricked on his tongue as a square shape pricked on the touch of his hands"
page 700

In this quote, Dillard is discussing a book she read written by a doctor who works with patients who have been blinded by cataracts. Dillard is extremely affected by this book because she discusses it for a few pages. At the end of the section, she says that her own vision was affected by what the author of the book wrote for weeks. In this particular quote, the blind person is discribing lemonade as square because it is sour and pricks his taste buds like a corner would prick his hand. This could be because he has no vision and cannot relate a square in its context and beleives that tasting is just like touching.