Oates goes from claiming at the beginning that she considers herself small and insignificant compared to Nature, to finally describing how she smashes black ants with her forefinger, meaning she does have some kind of power over nature.
Explanation:
There´s irony on the fact that she first expresses aversion for the romanticization of nature in literature, but finally finds some kind of writing inspiration in damaging those ants as an expression of nature.
