An American Childhood Annie Dillard Analysis

In the autobiography “An American Childhood” written by Annie Dillard, Dillard wrote about one of her unforgettable memories that left her disillusioned because of her misconception about an adult’s view of life. On the other hand, Saira Shah, in her article, “Longing to Belong”, she wrote about how her dreams of being part of her “original culture” crashed by a single incident that make her realize that the reality is not the same as what she expected. Therefore, it is clear that both of the writers in these two essays together experienced and portrays disappointment in their essays. To be specific, both of them felt disappointed after what they want the most in their life is not like what they think it should be. In other words, they learnt …show more content…
The word “perfunctorily” in this context really shows how unacceptable the chaser’s action in Dillard’s eye. Dillard felt so disappointed by what had happened on that day, as it was not the same as what she expected to happen. She wanted more from the redheaded man by expecting him to continue the “game” by punishing them. On the other hand, in “Longing to Belong” by Saira Shah, she showed her feelings of disappointment by using the words “inhuman bark” when describing her aunt, as she wrote, “In a gruff, slack-jawed way that I found unappealing, she made a sharp, inhuman sound that sounded almost like a bark”. In this case, Shah associated her aunt with an animal. People only associate someone with an animal if and only if he or she thinks that the other person is evil or horrible. In this situation, she clearly portrayed the feelings of dislike and disappointment towards her aunt’s …show more content…
In Saira Shah’s essay, in the end, after the phone call incident, she eventually knew that she actually wanted freedom, as the reality of what happen really broke her fantasy of palaces and garden. At first she thought that she wanted to be part of her original roots, but in fact, she wanted freedom. It can be proven as she said about the tableau vivant of the Afghan bride that reflects the oppressive society of her original culture. Islam is too conservative for her. She also started to realize that all the good things she heard about her ‘roots’ came from a man, which made her questioned back her culture. Instead, we can see that Dillard wanted to live in her fantasy, or in her ‘game’ and it caused her to be so sad and disappointed when she found out that the man did not want to be part of the game. We also can see that in the end, Dillard still kept her sense of innocence and left being disillusioned of her fantasy, as she still could not believe the reality that happened. Dillard also felt sad because the man that she thinks different from other adults is actually the same as the other boring