Essay Questions

How does Barbara Kingsolver use the literary device of personification in the High Tide in Tucson?

The author has given the hermit crab human abilities. At the start of the 'High Tide in Tucson' Barbara Kingsolver writes, “A hermit crab lives in my house. Here in the desert, he's hiding out from local animal ordinances, at minimum, and maybe even the international laws of native-species transport. For sure, he's an outlaw against nature." She is referring to the hermit crab as a male human who can hide from other local animal ordinances.

How does the theme of love of nature manifest itself in the High Tide in Tucson by Barbara Kingsolver?

Barbara Kingsolver’s love for nature and living organisms is evident throughout the High Tide in Tucson story. When she goes to the Bahamas, she collects a variety of shells and crabs to bring them to her daughter. She also believes that when she comes across a living organism, it is good to take good care of it. She writes, “If you ask me when something extraordinary shows up in your life in the middle of the night, you give it a name and make it the best home you can.” She also indicates that she has many crabs and whelks when she says, “But our household had a deficit of males, so my daughter and I chose Buster, for balance. We gave him a terrarium with clean gravel and a small cactus plant dug out of the yard and a big cockleshell full of tap water. All this seemed to suit him fine.”

Give two examples of how Barbara Kingsolver uses sensory description in her collection of essays.

Barbara Kingsolver appeals the sense of hearing and sight to the reader in the story 'Hight Tide in Tucson' when she talks about the tap-tap-tapping sound of the sea creature and the night. The tap-tap-tapping sounds depict the sense of hearing while arriving home at night appeals to the sense of sight to the reader.