A Whirlwind of an Eclipse...

Have you ever been in the middle of a story when an even greater thought jumps into your head? I feel like this is how Annie Dillard told her story in the article Total Eclipse. She jumped from her personal experiences on her vacation at the inland of Washington to a deep, detailed image of a clown painting she once saw in her hotel room. Annie never stuck to one point, and if she did, she rambled on and on. Besides her gaudy, vivid sentences, she created magical pictures while writing her article. Even if the readers had no idea of what the definition of an eclipse was, it was made clear by the end of her descriptions. She amplified one moment-one memory-and carried it on...for what seemed a century.

It really caught me by surprise when such beautiful words and descriptions were turned into the comparison of corpses covering the grassy hill. The story's mood changed from unique and exciting to a dusky, depressing feeling. What I thought to be a cute love story between the author and her lover, Gary, slowly shifted into the "world's dead people rotating and orbiting around and around, embedded in the planet's crust...". At times I was confused during her story only because I couldn't really grasp the point she was trying to make.

Clearly, she used a wide variety of comparisons  to make clear the difference of a partial eclipse to a total eclipse. Anybody could gain the understanding of how different they were due to her eccentric collations between a kissing man to a married man, all the way to the temperature you feel while the eclipse is occurring above.

Even with great comparisons, minute detail, lively word choice, and a strong emotional sensation, Annie proceeded with her story eventually to make the point of waking up. She states: "We teach our children one thing only, as we were taught: to wake up." I agree completely with this utterance. She clarifies very well that the ones who do not wake up are living a "valueless" life. There is no doubt in my mind that Annie Dillard is a very intelligent author, and it is immensely portrayed in this article. I have never read such a mind twisting, beautiful article. She incorporated every memory/idea that came to her mind, but did it in a smart, formal way. Her story captures the audience in a storm of her thoughts vs. their thoughts; it is a competition to see which ones make the most sense...like Annie said, "The mind wants to live forever", so might as well try to make everything make sense while it is still working correctly.