Throughout Annie Dillard’s For the Time Being, the author conveys the importance and subtle

value in the ability to connect with strangers in short durations of time as it acknowledges the complexity
of humanity and human individuality through the usage of contrast and parallelism.
Dillard begins the passage through utilizing contrast in order to emphasize the way in which
humans are alike despite our potential vast differences. She begins the passage by comparing humans to
“clouds” (135), noting that despite bustling lives we are all alike in our ability to travel and be in search of
a new goal. The author made this connection of human qualities to resemble clouds due to the nature of
how clouds are---being constantly in motion. Like a cloud, Dillard notes that we are in a constant state of
continuation of our lives to unify all human beings, and with this we are able to interact with strangers.
Dillard later within the paragraph goes on to describe a personal interaction she held with a woman, first
describing her as “beautiful” and then immediately to have been disabled in a wheelchair (135). The
author mentions this story in order to convey the idea that our interactions with strangers are meaningful
yet fleeting, and should therefore be valued greatly. The contrast between describing the woman as
beautiful to make note of her apparent disabilities may be Dillard’s attempt in portraying the superficiality
of our experiences and how we are often unable to appreciate the beauty in human interaction for what it
is. For a brief period of time, the author was able to truly connect with a stranger whom she has no
relation to and appreciate the time she could spend with them, as she acknowledged the complexity of
humans and the value in understanding each individual because this gives life meaning. However, her
ability to disregard the beauty and instead choose to notice what the woman was lacking is therefore
representative of our collective lacking in appreciation and gratitude for the simplicity of life.
This idea of the necessity of appreciation towards life is continued throughout the excerpt through
Dillard’s utilization of parallelism. In the second paragraph, Dillard describes a scene of bustling activity
and a busy street full of pedestrians (136). By portraying a scene of business, this demonstrates a lack of
individuality because the people within the story are grouped together. Despite each citizen having lived
their own life, describing a setting of business with hundreds of pedestrians degrades their existence to
only constitute a number. Alongside this, each person in this scene is conveyed to be only concerned of
their own existence, and pay little attention to the hundreds of strangers which surround them. This scene
is then paralleled as Dillard describes her sudden interaction with a baby, which then provoked all
bypassers to cease motion and watch their interaction (136). The sudden parallel between incredible
motion to a world which abruptly stopped is showcased by Dillard in order to stress the purpose life is
given when we interact with others around us. She wants us to appreciate our lives and the lives of others
through interaction, because this ultimately is what gives us purpose and meaning within our existence.
Our ability to bond with people whom we have never met, and take interest in the lives of others is what
creates humanity. When this interaction occurs, Dillard notes that the people surrounding them appear to
halt their breathing, and only exhale when their interaction is completed (136). The author may include
this detail to again stress how humans are so encompassed in their own lives, that we are incredulous
when seeing humanity. By showcasing the way in which humans often lack the ability to connect with
others and disconnect ourselves from our own personal lives, this stresses the importance in acquiring the
ability to appreciate life in its simplicity and advocates for humanity to make deeper connections with
strangers that are not superficial. Dillard wants to humanize the baby, which can be symbolic of purity or
kindness, so her audience can appreciate the importance of interconnection.
In conclusion, the author depicts human interaction to be of great importance and to be
appreciated as it gives our lives meaning through the utilization of contrast and parallelism.