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Course Hero. "Holy the Firm Study Guide." Course Hero. 8 Jan. 2021. Web. 21 Sep. 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Holy-the-Firm/>.
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Course Hero. (2021, January 8). Holy the Firm Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved September 21, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Holy-the-Firm/
In text
(Course Hero, 2021)
Bibliography
Course Hero. "Holy the Firm Study Guide." January 8, 2021. Accessed September 21, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Holy-the-Firm/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "Holy the Firm Study Guide," January 8, 2021, accessed September 21, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Holy-the-Firm/.
Annie Dillard
1977
Nonfiction
Nature, Religion
The main event in Holy the Firm is a plane crash in which the face of a seven-year-old girl is horribly disfigured by fire. The tragedy of this event causes the narrator to experience a deep religious crisis. Her faith in God is badly shaken by the accident and leads the narrator on an intensely introspective journey. She examines her relationship with God and God's relationship with the world. She searches for ways to restore her faith, looking for some immutable concept that can sustain her in a world that seems random, cruel, and meaningless.
Holy the Firm is told by a first-person narrator who speaks in the present and past tenses. The narrator tells the story from a personal vantage point.
The term "Holy the Firm" is a substance that early Christians believed was the deepest substance below the surface of the earth. They believed the substance was in touch with the Absolute, meaning God, and thereby created an unbroken circle of unity among all substances. For Pantheists who believe that God is identified with the universe, God is Absolute and the world because it is identical with God is likewise absolute.
This study guide for Annie Dillard's Holy the Firm offers summary and analysis on themes, symbols, and other literary devices found in the text. Explore Course Hero's library of literature materials, including documents and Q&A pairs.
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