Annie Dillard's An American Childhood

Imagine being chased through your town by an adult man. You’re running forever, and don’t know when it’s going to end! “An American Childhood”, by Annie Dillard, is a story about not giving up. She learned this important lesson on a snow day in Pittsburgh, in the strangest setting. In this story, young Annie Dillard is playing with her friends out in the snow. They have been playing for a while, when they decide to throw snowballs at cars on the busiest street in town. She’s having a great time, until one snowball is launched at a car. To their surprise, the car actually stops. The driver opens the door and exits the vehicle. He begins to run straight at them, before the kids can think they are running the other way. Their hearts are beating fast, and they don’t know what to think. They are being chased through town on a cold
She says “The point was that he chased us passionately without giving up, and so he had caught us.” I would be scared out of my mind. When the man finally catches them, and comes back down to earth, all he has to say is “stupid kids”. Annie admires the man, because he ran full heartedly, and never gave up. She wonders if they, “ would have ran all the way to Panama City if he hadn’t have caught them”. He would have ran full heartedly to tell them they were stupid kids. She admires the dedication he gave to the chase. The main theme for this story would be to never give up, just like the man who chased Annie and her friends. He ran without giving up, and caught them. He was determined, and set on a goal. Another might be freedom, because she felt like she was free when she was running. I think the chase is a symbol in this story, it’s like a goal for the man who is chasing them. The chase is what he is trying to achieve, he wants to catch the kids. Another symbol might be nature and childhood. It brings you back to a time where you were happy, as a child. It helps show the theme of