43 pages • 1 hour read
Annie DillardThe Writing Life
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
This two-page chapter discusses a mystical occurrence that Dillard calls exemplary of the writing life: She writes alone in a house, and her typewriter erupts into flames. Dillard leaves the typewriter alone for a moment to go upstairs, but soon feels the whole house shaking from the typewriter’s tremors. The surrounding furniture, upholstery, and even her own clothes become pockmarked from sparks, but the typewriter appears undamaged, despite the flames pouring from between the keys. Dillard gets the fire under control and tentatively goes to sleep. The typewriter does not erupt again, but Dillard remains cautious now that she knows its volatility.
Chapter 4 Analysis
Dillard begins the chapter with a rhetorical question, “What is the writing life?” (63), before jumping into her story. This indicates that the tale is symbolic—contrary to her claims of not knowing whether it was real or if she “dreamed” it (63). The writing life, therefore, involves the threat of one’s tools fighting back. Like her earlier images of the feral lion or the tyrant, the exploding typewriter symbolizes the antagonistic relationship between a writer and their work. Dillard explains, much like the story of missing visits with the terminally ill writing, that the typewriter explodes while she is out of the room. The story emphasizes the necessity of constant work.
Dillard puts the fire out herself and fixes the eruption so she can get back to work. Like the epigraph from Beckett, she “shows what stuff [s]he is made of” (65) when faced with disaster. The damage extends beyond the typewriter into her home and onto her person, but she does not indicate that she ever despairs—she simply finds ways to quench the fire. Her feelings come after the event, when she feels the looming threat of another eruption that never comes. The sense of vigilance returns to the cautiousness a writer must exert towards their work so that they do not develop adverse feelings.
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By Annie Dillard
