Theme Of Anna's Leap

Three years ago, with my encouragement, a friend decided to take a leap and achieve the practically impossible. He fell and broke his left leg. The leap, as suggested by its title, is the story of a mother's leap, both physical and emotional, in the hopes of creating a good life for her family. It is the story of courage and bravery winning over fear. The story mostly takes place in flashbacks, with the trigger incident being the storm during the trapeze act, and the climax the mother deciding to take a leap, literally and figuratively, to save her daughter from the burning building, tying perfectly to the theme, it pays to overcome fear with bravery. With subtlety and mastery, author Louise Erdrich uses symbolism, writing style, and repetition, …show more content…
The meaning of leap varies from a jump to great height to acceptance of an opportunity, both of which are used in this story. The jump to great height twice, both done for the act of saving, and the acceptance of an opportunity when Anna gives up one form of flight for another, and decides to live a quieter life with her new family. The author uses symbolism to show just how different Anna's life is from what it was before. When Anna's hands burn, they bare no lines, symbolizing the quieter life that is to follow. Similarly, the tombstone of Anna's first child represents the death of her old life. Another form of writing style used is imagery, use of vivid language to create a mental image for the reader. An example of this is the description of the circus and the atmosphere at the time of the Avalons' performance. "People commented on the pleasant air" "[they] surrendered [their tickets] in anticipation" "ate caramelized popcorn and roasted peanuts" and even "they sat" brings out the anticipation and excitement of the audience, and creates a very clear image for the reader. With the help of these literary tools and the title, the author creates the perfect atmosphere for the story, allowing all other forms of writing style to bring out the …show more content…
Since Leap is told in flashbacks, it is hard to know what is foreshadowing what; it is a circular process and relates more to repetition than to foreshadowing, but there still are some example. One of the most obvious is used during the trapeze act. The author writes "from opposite ends of the text they waved, blind and smiling...". While they literally cannot see because of their blindfolds, they are also completely unaware of what is about to come, making them blind. After the accident, three people lose their life, but the mother is not seriously injured until, as said in the story, "an overeager rescuer breaks her arm" And drops the tent on her causing her loss of conscience. Ironic that Anna survives the storm, only to be injured by a rescuer. Not long before this in the sorry, an example of simile is used, comparing Anna and Harry to birds, saying "they used to drop gracefully, from nowhere, like two sparkling birds. It is ironic that the author has decided to phrase the sentence this way, seeing as the drop, not so gracefully, to their death, sparkling from fire and electricity. Anna, of course, survives, but the idea is the same. It is also ironic that Anna spends half of her life as a circus performer, participating in blind acts, and then goes blind after completely changing her lifestyle, but it is not ironic that the theme of