After reading the story "Bewilderment" author Fanny Howe states that "bewilderment is an enchantment that follows the collapse of reference and reconcilability" or in simpler terms the dictionary version "to cause to lose one's sense of where one is." Bewilderment to me, is a state of being confused, or unsure about what is happening in various presented situations. Bewilderment, although seeming a bit frightening, is needed in our lives because if everything was known, exact, identical etc. the world would not be the place it is now, no human would live the same life they are currently living, everything would be permanent and unchangeable. On the other hand, I believe certainty is needed throughout life because without the constant and assuredness that certainty provides our lives would be chaotic and in a state of confusion or "bewilderment" all the time.
Certainty provides security in knowing what is to be or what is to come, it allows us to either enjoy what we know is going to happen or accept the things we cannot change. An example of this could be, in the novel "The Serpents Of Paradise" the author Edward Abbey talks about his first encounter with the snake on his porch, and the thought process and emotions he felt during this experience. He says that he is certain that he cannot kill he snake due to morals, yet also he is in a state of bewilderment as to how he will get the snake to leave his porch or what the snake may do to him if he doesn't kill it, proving that both bewilderment and certainty needed in this situation, without either one he would not have been able to have shared this experience with his readers. On that context, bewilderment and uncertainty are needed in balance because with too much of one, life would either be chaos and confusion or unchangeable and mundane.
I agree with everything you said completely. First off, Bewilderment is the "way out there" and the "way inside" also it is the " public life" and the "private life" because it is the confusion of where you are or what is happening. I also agree that it is about being unsure in a state of mind and that it is fearful to think of such a thing that happens to human beings go through. For example, Fanny House said "bewilderment is like a dream" that goes inside and outside of the world and a faithful and unfaithful habit people posses. I also agree the world would not be the same without bewilderment because of certainty. Certainty is the truth, the facts the knowledge that something is real or something is right, without certainty the world would not be what it is today. In addition, I agree it provides security and protection of knowning the truth, what will happen, and what is real. For representation like you said when Edward Abbey explained how he would never kill a snake because it is not in his morals or nature to do so and he was thinking about killing it in the state of bewilderment. The author would not have been able to share his story with the audience if it was not for bewilderment and certainty. The world needs both virtues because it makes an equilibrium to this society and place we live in today. Finally, without it nothing would be the same in this life humans live in and dream in.
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