Anna Vs Ammaniti

Most college students experience chaos at some point during their schooling, perhaps the stress from classes, mixed with deadlines, economic difficulties, and maybe even trying to find a job. Adults also deal with moments of absolute chaos, in work, in life, and in their family. In addition, children caught in divorce battles, or those with abusive or drug addicted parents see chaos every way they turn. Likewise, Anna, in an excerpt from the novel Anna by Niccolò Ammaniti, translated from Italian to English by Johnathan Hunt, experiences a different kind of chaos; the chaos of being chased by a wild dog in an apocalyptic world of burned out cars and deserted streets. A review by Zöe Apostolides states that elements in Ammaniti’s book appear

Likewise, by dropping hints about the background of the story, Ammaniti creates a hint of mystery which appeals to readers and begins to deposit the groundwork for the plot. In the story Anna, this only serves to heighten the sense of chaos as the author depicts a world of disorder. In order to include these mysteries, the author provides small flashbacks into the main character’s childhood, such as Anna’s mother taking her out for gelato, or her school coach calling her a kangaroo, both of which help Anna overcome difficult situations. These flashbacks also help the reader feel familiar with the protagonist (par 51). Furthermore, after the flashback about gelato, Anna states that you could “still…find other sweet things,” before “the fire came…” This mention of a “fire” leads the reader down an imaginative rabbit trail of questions about the world Anna lives and struggles for life in (par 58). In addition, the development of Anna’s character in the story provides a clear example of humanity’s psychological and physical battle against chaos, a successful scenario for an exciting plot. An example of this appears when Anna imagines a single enemy canine as, “thousands of them surrounding the car…” (par 50). Anna feels so overwhelmed by all the chaos that the single dog plaguing her seems like thousands. She becomes enveloped in this fear which forces her to call upon childhood memories of family and sweets to supply her with enough strength to overcome the situation. The climax of the plot unearths an idea which readers may find disheartening: chaos cannot always be overcome. An example of this manifests when Anna thinks she found safety in a rundown car, but the dog somehow finds her again (par 35-48). In this continuation of the cycle of chaos, Anna climbs out of her shelter only to see a shape far