Newborn children
These chapters are like meditations, and although they are designed to be of universal application, because anyone can read them and glean insight from them, she does occasionally include characters into her meditations. The first of these is the newborn child. She says that throughout her life, she has been given an opportunity to see many humans being born, and although they have the most life ahead of them, although many times the already suffer from issues and health concerns, the babies tend to be quite fulfilled emotionally. They are satisfied, but they have done nothing to feel accomplished about. The portrait has mysterious overtones.
Tielhard de Chardin
This man gets a lengthy shout-out in a reflective essay on religion and the human experience. He was a Jesuit priest in the former part of his life, but his thirst for truth and knowledge led him into the field of paleontology where he was part of new discoveries that had serious impacts on historical theory. In his writings, he believed an optimistic theory called Omega Point, saying that all human experience was leading to a euphoric conversion of complexity and meaning.
Dillard herself
Annie Dillard speaks from her own point of view throughout the essays, sometimes reflecting on her own experiences, and sometimes reflecting on subjects with her own experience as the backdrop. Her writings are plainly mystical and are often designed to conjure a sense of wonder in the reader. For example, her discussion on the eternal dance of the sand on a beach, and the constant artwork of the waves and tides, she is alleging something about the eternal beauty of reality. No wonder she alludes to theologians and students of the human experience.
