Friday, July 20, 2012
Total Eclipse
Annie Dillard's Total Eclipse, was an interesting piece of writing. It was not my favorite piece, but it still had a few things that caught my attention. I thought the Dillard's writing of the clown painting, in her hotel, was confusing the first time I read threw it. I could not figure out how it fit into this writing. But then it was mentioned to me by a family member, that maybe Dillard had put the clown into her writing to compare it to the Eclipse. The painting of the clown, at first, looks very normal. It's not until you look closer, that you can realize it's not what it seems. "His hair was bunches of baby carrots. Inset in his white clown makeup, and in his cabbage skull, where his small and laughing human eyes... the crinkle shadows around his eyes were string beans. His eyebrows were parsley. Each of his ears was a broad bean."It's not just any old clown painting, this one's made out of vegetables.
The same thing can be seen with the Eclipse. As the sun starts to disappear, the world and the things around Dillard didn't look as they seem. "The grasses were wrong; they were platinum. Their every detail of stem, head, and blade shone lightness and artificially distinct as an art photographer's platinum print. This color had never been seen on hearth. The hues were metallic; their finish was matte. The hillside was a nineteenth-century tinted photograph from which the tints had faded.... The sky was navy blue." The world, in Dillard's view, had changed it was not; as in the clown painting, compleatly normal.
It is later mentioned in Dillard's writing that there will not be another total eclipse in Yakima, Washington till 2086. I hope that if I can make it to the Eclipse, and my boss can gives me an hour off, that I will be able to witness the Eclipse like her; and maybe even compare it to the crazy clown painting as well.
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Hi Sam! Great blog post! I really liked it! I agree with you that this piece of writing was interesting and even random at times. Amongst the essay, I also found some fascinating things that caught my attention too. Initially, Dillard’s inclusion of the clown painting from the hotel was confusing to me, but after your comparison of it to the total eclipse, it makes more sense! The clown itself was odd and freaky, and the total eclipse appeared to produce fear and mystery in Dillard as well. Yes, when Dillard actually saw the total eclipse occurring she saw the world completely transforming into something unusual, like you said. The total eclipse even caused her to lose her sanity! I think it would be really cool to actually see that clown painting in person and see if it actually gives off a sensation of fright.
ReplyDeleteI would love to join you to go see the next eclipse in 2086. It would be incredible to see it actually in person. If we are fortunate enough that our bosses will give us an hour off to go view it. Can you believe that the whole eclipse only lasts less than two minutes?
I am wondering if you believe this story to be completely non-fiction. Do you think everything she said in the story was real? I think, overall, that the story is true, but I am curious to know your thoughts.
I hope you are having a great summer, and I am looking forward to reading more of your blog posts throughout the year!
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteThis article I actually found to be very interesting just because the style of writing was so extremely different than all the other readings we were assigned. I agree that the clown section of the article was very confusing at first. After I read your blog post and you talked about what a family member had mentioned, the story seemed to click and the clown portrait really did have a purpose in the story. I am actually very glad I read you blog post because I now feel like I have a better understanding of the confusing article. Mainly I think this article is so confusing is because it's message can be taken so many different ways, and finding the message in the story is half the battle. Great post though! See you soon!