Total Eclipse By Annie Dillard Analysis

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In the story, Total Eclipse by Annie Dillard, there is a-lot of imagery and detail to what she is observing during this important life event. I had to read the story twice to get the understanding of her main concept. From what understood she is not only writing about an important life event, but on an event, that gave her a different perspective on life. The second paragraph is the first vivid image she talks about, it is this vegetable clown painting on the hotel wall. She uses the sense of sight, as she describes all the vegetables they used to create this clown. She describes the painting as, “a print of a detailed and lifelike painting of a smiling clown’s head, made out of vegetables” (pg. 325). She then describes the hotel lobby where she uses the senses of sight and sound. She writes on how there was a drunk man screaming at the TV, while others were asleep. She writes about the aquarium, the women sitting on the chair, the child’s bucket and shovel and how the hotel lobby was, “dark, derelict room, narrow as a …show more content…

332). This means we must engage in the present and live today while we can. The main idea is that the eclipse itself is a metaphor. Dillard reason for writing this story was not only to write about an important life event, but to tell you how there’s only one today and you never know what will happen tomorrow. All this images support a part of this main idea, they are described on the last page of the story. She writes, “because you lost your bucket and shovel and you no longer care” (pg. 335). This is directed to people who just no longer care if they wake up tomorrow or not. One representation she gives during the eclipse is that those who lack action and ideas in their lives are practically dead. Go after your eclipse, whatever it may be, don’t let yourself live a dead life simply because you are afraid to go after what you

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