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Emily Dickinson: Believer or Not? While attending Amherst College, Emily Dickinson became fascinated with Dr. Hitchcock’s philosophies. Dr. Hitchcock was the originator of the American Scientific Association and President of Amherst College. Dickinson loved to read “Flowers of North America,” along with other works by Hitchcock. She would attend his lectures, not knowing that one of his sermons would change her views on Christianity for the rest of her life. Pollitt writes that “In …

…she can love people more than God. She looks for all available evidence against God’s fate. If there is any sign that renders an unanswered prayer, Dickinson will find it. I do not think Dickinson is best defined as a religious poet. Her ambiguity as a poet for whom religion was a major theme along with her gained knowledge from school and reading definitely caused her to lead her life as an individualistic person.