You are going to read a short story today called “The Chaser” by John Collier. Let’s think about the word. What does chaser mean? Dictionary
There are a couple of different meanings that may apply to the story: “one who pursues another” or “a drink of a milder beverage taken after a drink of liquor.”
Dialogue
The short story is filled withdialogue a conversation between characters, which may make it easier or harder for you to read. Quotation marks Use quotation marks ("...") to show that you are writing the exact words that someone said, thought, or wrote.surround all spoken words. Dialogue tagsare used to show who is speaking. Commas are used if a dialogue tag is followed. Keep end punctuation inside the quotation marks. A new paragraph begins when a new person speaks or a large passage of action interrupts the speaking. Look at the example below.
"Is it true," asked Alan, "that you have a certain mixture that has-er-quite extraordinary effects?"
"The Chaser"
The plot The framework of the story is simple. The main character, Alan Austen, is madly in love with a girl who doesn't love him back. He meets an older man who sells love potions as well as what he calls "glove cleaner" or rather "life cleaner."
Look at the first sentence in the story.
"Alan Austen, as nervous as a kitten, went up certain dark and creaky stairs in the neighborhood of Pell Street, and peered about for a long time on the dime landing before he found the name he wanted written obscurely on one of the doors."
What kind of figurative language is used?
The next paragraph provides the setting of the room.
"He pushed open this door, as he had been told to do, and found himself in a tiny room, which contained no furniture but a plain kitchen table, a rocking-chair, and an ordinary chair. On one of the dirty buff-colored walls were a couple of shelves, containing in all perhaps a dozen bottles and jars."
What is your first impression of the room?
The dialogue begins in the next part.
"Is it true," asked Alan, "that you have a certain mixture that has-er-quite extraordinary effects?"
"My dear sir," replied the old man, "my stock in trade is not very large-I don't deal in laxatives and teething mixtures-but such as it is, it is varied. I think nothing I sell has effects which could be precisely described as ordinary.“
What can you predict the man is selling?
"Well, the fact is. . ." began Alan.
"Here, for example, "interrupted the old man, reaching for a bottle from the shelf. "Here is a liquid as colorless as water, almost tasteless, quite imperceptible in coffee, wine, or any other beverage. It is also quite imperceptible to any known method of autopsy."
"Do you mean it is a poison?" cried Alan, very much horrified.
"Call it a glove-cleaner if you like," said the old man indifferently. "Maybe it will clean gloves. I have never tried. One might call it a life-cleaner. Lives need cleaning sometimes."
"I want nothing of that sort," said Alan.
Why would it matter that the liquid cannot be seen in an autopsy?
Why does Alan seemed shocked?
"Probably it is just as well," said the old man. "Do you know the price of this? For one teaspoonful, which is sufficient, I ask five thousand dollars. Never less. Not a penny less."
"I hope all your mixtures are not as expensive," said Alan apprehensively.
"Oh dear, no," said the old man. "It would be no good charging that sort of price for a love potion, for example. Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion."
"I am glad to hear that," said Alan.
The old man is charging $5,000 for one teaspoonful. What will the potion do?
What else does the man sell?
What is the implied meaning when the man says, “Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion.”
"I look at it like this," said the old man. "Please a customer with one article, and he will come back when he needs another. Even if it is more costly. He will save up for it, if necessary."
"So," said Alan, "you really do sell love potions?"
"If I did not sell love potions," said the old man, reaching for another bottle, "I should not have mentioned the other matter to you. It is only when one is in a position to oblige that one can afford to be so confidential.“
Why do you think the old man has repeat customers?
"And these potions," said Alan. "They are not just-just-er-"
"Oh, no," said the old man. "Their effects are permanent, and extend far beyond the mere casual impulse. But they include it. Oh, yes they include it. Bountifully, insistently. Everlastingly."
"Dear me!" said Alan, attempting a look of scientific detachment. "How very interesting!"
"But consider the spiritual side," said the old man.
"I do, indeed," said Alan.
"For indifference," said the old man, they substitute devotion. For scorn, adoration. Give one tiny measure of this to the young lady-its flavour is imperceptible in orange juice, soup, or cocktails-and however gay and giddy she is, she will change altogether. She will want nothing but solitude and you."
"I can hardly believe it," said Alan. "She is so fond of parties."
"She will not like them any more," said the old man. "She will be afraid of the pretty girls you may meet."
"She will actually be jealous?" cried Alan in a rapture. "Of me?"
"Yes, she will want to be everything to you."
"She is, already. Only she doesn't care about it."
"She will, when she has taken this. She will care intensely. You will be her sole interest in life."
"Wonderful!" cried Alan.
Alan is extremely pleased to hear that the girl will be fully, or rather, “bountifully, insistently, and everlastingly” in love with him. What do you think this means?
"She will want to know all you do," said the old man. "All that has happened to you during the day. Every word of it. She will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why your are looking sad."
"That is love!" cried Alan.
"Yes," said the old man. "How carefully she will look after you! She will never allow you to be tired, to sit in a draught, to neglect your food. If you are an hour late, she will be terrified. She will think you are killed, or that some siren has caught you."
"I can hardly imagine Diana like that!" cried Alan, overwhelmed with joy.
"You will not have to use your imagination," said the old man. "And, by the way, since there are always sirens, if by any chance you should, later on, slip a little, you need not worry. She will forgive you, in the end. She will be terribly hurt, of course, but she will forgive you-in the end."
"That will not happen," said Alan fervently.
"Of course not," said the old man. "But, if it did, you need not worry. She would never divorce you. Oh, no! And, of course, she will never give you the least, the very least, grounds for-uneasiness."
"And how much," said Alan, "is this wonderful mixture?"
Alan is so excited of this news that he wants to buy the mixture; however, it sounds like the old man is trying to dissuade him from buying the love potion. What do you think?
"It is not as dear," said the old man, "as the glove-cleaner, or life-cleaner, as I sometimes call it. No. That is five thousand dollars, never a penny less. One has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing. One has to save up for it."
"But the love potion?" said Alan.
"Oh, that," said the old man, opening the drawer in the kitchen table, and taking out a tiny, rather dirty-looking phial.
"That is just a dollar."
"I can't tell you how grateful I am," said Alan, watching him fill it.
How much is the love potion? Why do you think the love potion is so cheap?
"I like to oblige," said the old man. "Then customers come back, later in life, when they are better off, and want more expensive things. Here you are. You will find it very effective."
"Thank you again," said Alan. "Good-bye."
"Au revoir," said the man.
This is the end of the story. What is the message?
The exposition describes the setting and characters. What is the setting in Collier’s story?
The inciting incident is an essential plot element because this is where an event occurs that is life changing; it complicates the story. When do you think the inciting incident occurs in the story?
The rising action is where the conflict gets more exciting and the story builds around this struggle.
What is the rising action in the story?
The climax is the moment of greatest excitement or tension in the story. Where is the climax?
The falling action is where the evens happen as a result of the climax, and the reader knows that they story will soon end. Where is the falling action in the story?
The resolution is where the character(s) solves the main problem or conflict or someone solves it for him or her. What is the resolution?
The denouement (pronounced day-noo-moh) is a French word literally meaning the end. All loose-ends are tied and resolved by the characters or explained by the author. What point is the denouement?
The Twilight Zone created a version of the short story. If you have time, watch the episode called “I Love You to Death.”