The Chase

Annie Dillard lives for intensity (Slovic 6).  As she weaves her story through ice balls, baseball and running from adults, one can almost feel the energy pulsating through her blood. And indeed it did. As Dillard describes in “The Chase”, Annie writes that as the man in the Buick kept coming after them, she “wanted …to last forever” (Dillard, “Childhood” 18). By writing that she lived for that moment and did not want it to end, we see realize how Dillard skillfully uses words to turn mundane childhood
play into a desire to experience life on the fast lane. She takes the driver’s seat as she describes how she got excited by the knowledge that someone was chasing after them. Sometimes in life, we do not want these exciting experiences to end. It is an addiction that feeds the soul and keeps it alive. Without the rush, life seems rather dull for some people.
The use of “we” (Dillard, “Childhood” 11-12) in the description of tends to suggest that some pleasures are best enjoyed with others. The knowledge that they had done something wrong and the anticipation of the chase seems to suggest that for one to enjoy something, it is better to have someone with you along the way. Annie is the chief character, but one cannot fail to notice that her excitement would not have been exquisite if she was all by herself. The presence of her friends makes the experience even more attractive and fun (Dillard, “Reader” 53).
The struggle that Annie and her friends endure as they run away from the man with the Buick seems to suggest the repetitive and draining nature of life on the fast lane. The boys and Annie were exhausted, at least physically, and this heightens the adrenaline rush. It appears that for Annie, the most challenging part of the chase was also the best for her. At page 12, she writes that “…he hunted Mikey and me across the yellow house...under a low tree, under a tree…” The Chase was chaotic, and this vivid description emerges to give us a glimpse into the chaos that is life. She describes in detail how everybody took their way while being followed. However, she manages to keep up with Mikey Fahey. Linking up with Fahey serves as a symbol to prove that in life’s struggles, one never lacks a companion along the way.
As the kids run through choppy routes to evade the man, we get an opportunity to understand the nature of the chase. While on the quest, people take different routes to get to their destination. For the boys and Annie, the choppy directions they have to make seem to emphasize that the chase was indeed epic (Dillard, “Three” 76). Through the syntax that Annie adopts, Annie manages to use hyperbole to great effect. As she describes the feeling after being caught, “I would have died happy…” (Dillard, “Childhood” 21). That very moment is so memorable Annie says she has never experienced anything that intense ever since that little incident in her childhood. The feeling manages to live with her into adulthood, and her choice of words is telling enough (Johnson 31).
Annie uses the line “We didn’t look at each other. I cherished my excitement” to show that at the after immediately after their capture, she felt most excited. The use of words such as “captor”, “hero” and “pursuer” at this moment seems to suggest that she could not explain the experience using one word. The gamut of emotions running through her cannot be captured in one word. In most intense situations, people find it difficult to explain with exactitude their feelings. The same can be said of Annie. As the line suggests excitement and danger seem intertwined.
At the start of the story, Annie describes the harsh cold weather in a manner that suggests she seemed unhappy with it. She writes that there were not enough cars to stone, and almost seems disappointed at this lack of excitement. Symbolically, this can be described as the calm before the storm. And she is right; for she further writes “we all spread out, took aim and… fired.” The use of these words is intended to highlight the start of a very intense experience. The term “fired” as used to describe the act of throwing the snowballs at the Buick portends some danger. The word is often used in military strategy, and its use here suggests some risk. In life, all risky endeavors tend to start on a low note, picking up traction as the plot thickens.
Dillard (“Childhood”) writes that the “every breadth tore her heart.” The use of these words seems to suggest the building up of the story’s climax. We can almost imagine her throat burning up as the chase intensified to a final crescendo, culminating in an experience that is memorable. The chase had apparently drained Annie and the boys. The overwhelming nature of the entire experience is just too much for the kids running around.



Works Cited
Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. London: Picador, 1988. Print.
Dillard, Annie. The Annie Dillard Reader. Harper Collins, 2009. Print.
Dillard, Annie. Three by Annie Dillard: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek; An American childhood; The writing life. HarperPerennial, 1990. Print.
Johnson, Sandra Humble. The space between: Literary epiphany in the work of Annie Dillard. Kent State University Press, 1992. Print.
Slovic, Scott. Seeking Awareness in American Nature Writing: Henry Thoreau, Annie Dillard, Edward Abbey, Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez. University of Utah Press, 1992. Print.