Analysis of the Running Man

Analysis of the Running Man

Sometimes there are hurdles in life that require great courage to overcome. We must utilize our inner strengths to motivate these courageous actions. Loren Eiseley sets an example of this in The Running Man- a chapter from his autobiography, All the Strange Hours. In this essay he reveals memories that show his lonely childhood which gives him the courage to overcome his problems.

Loneliness is what ultimately sparks his courageous action later on in his life. “I remember the pacing, the endless pacing of my parents after midnight, while I lay shivering in the cold bed and tried to understand the words that passed between my mother and my father.”(Eisley,337) This quote taken from the running man is just one example of his deep loneliness that he was faced with as a child. Even when he was around his family he still felt lonely. Whenever he came upon a ruined farmhouse and found old papers scattered across the floor that shared his last name, he realized that a German possibly like him had

lived there. He was amazed that his family hadn’t known this family. If only the family could have still lived there he would possibly have companions that were a lot like him. After years of torment by his loneliness he grasps his courage and runs. Eiseley is always running, through his childhood and most of his adult life.

He felt there was more out there for him. The life he was living was inadequate. This determination is a product of his childhood aspirations for a better life. This is proven by his childhood tradition of burying things and digging them up again instead of participating in childish games. Eiseley does not know why he would dig in the dirt or play with the gravel. “There was a lot of building being done then on our street. I used to spend hours turning over the gravel. Why, I wouldn’t know.”(338) As a child he embraces the rush of discovery and the thrill of adventure in his seemingly insignificant dirt pile. He was fueled by a unknown force in his childhood to discover more in life. This gave him the courage to leave home and discover things like science and anthropology.

It takes great courage for Eisley to return to his mother’s grave. In an affect this completes the circle of his life.