Anna Vs Ammaniti

Most college students experience chaos at some point during their schooling, perhaps the stress from classes, mixed with deadlines, economic difficulties, and maybe even trying to find a job. Adults also deal with moments of absolute chaos, in work, in life, and in their family. In addition, children caught in divorce battles, or those with abusive or drug addicted parents see chaos every way they turn. Likewise, Anna, in an excerpt from the novel Anna by Niccolò Ammaniti, translated from Italian to English by Johnathan Hunt, experiences a different kind of chaos; the chaos of being chased by a wild dog in an apocalyptic world of burned out cars and deserted streets. A review by Zöe Apostolides states that elements in Ammaniti’s book appear

as, “…a nursery of chaos and corpses” (Apostolides). Anna’s experience of multiple of these chaotic events such as running, falling, and fighting for her life detail how the author utilizes multiple elements of fiction to create a gripping story. Writing with skill, Niccolò Ammaniti details vivid action scenes in his book Anna. He furthers the theme of his story by providing a well-rounded conflict and detailed plot which catch readers’ interest to exemplify how people deal with chaos.
Niccolò Ammaniti wields conflict in a riveting style through circumstances, protagonist vs. antagonist, repetition, environment, and tone, by adding setting to form a scope of view for the reader. In the book Chaos Theory and James Joyce’s Everyman, by Peter Francis Mackey, the author states, “Chaos theory devotes itself to the study of dynamic systems that hover between perfect order and disordered chaos (pure randomness or entropy).” By detailing the circumstances of the story, Ammaniti lays down the first threads of this central point between “order” and “chaos” (Mackey 39). These two contrasting mediums offer the perfect landscape for a conflict between the protagonists and antagonists. By providing clear definitions of the protagonist verses the antagonist in the story, the author introduces the first instances of conflict in his story. In addition, repetition takes the form of a cyclical chase in which the protagonist reaches a ‘safe haven’ but can never escape the antagonist. Because of these clashes between the protagonist and antagonist, the story Anna bursts with images of conflict. The author also provides descriptive words to convey an environment, a lens through which the reader can view disorder, in addition to setting the scene for the conflict. For example, the sentence, “The sun was only four inches above the horizon–an orange ball trapped in purple drool" (par 6), displays a combination of vivid language and description which paints a world in a new way, perhaps even adding to the mystery of the apocalyptic world. If the world fell into a state of disorder, perhaps the sky would become discolored. Ammaniti cleverly weaves these mysteries into his story. The author adds setting, which Encyclopedia Britannica defines as, “…the location and time frame in which the action of a narrative takes place” (“Setting”), to widen his created world’s scope of imagination for the reader and create a more well-rounded conflict. For example, Anna seems to make it to safety once she climbs into a ruined car, or once she jumps a fence to freedom, but the black dog always catches up and attacks again. Ammaniti furthers all of these strands of creative conflict by laying out a detailed plot which only furthers any ideas of chaos in his story.
The author builds a creative plot by drawing from elements such as setting, in addition to describing the time or era, background, development, climax, and resolution.

Likewise, by dropping hints about the background of the story, Ammaniti creates a hint of mystery which appeals to readers and begins to deposit the groundwork for the plot. In the story Anna, this only serves to heighten the sense of chaos as the author depicts a world of disorder. In order to include these mysteries, the author provides small flashbacks into the main character’s childhood, such as Anna’s mother taking her out for gelato, or her school coach calling her a kangaroo, both of which help Anna overcome difficult situations. These flashbacks also help the reader feel familiar with the protagonist (par 51). Furthermore, after the flashback about gelato, Anna states that you could “still…find other sweet things,” before “the fire came…” This mention of a “fire” leads the reader down an imaginative rabbit trail of questions about the world Anna lives and struggles for life in (par 58). In addition, the development of Anna’s character in the story provides a clear example of humanity’s psychological and physical battle against chaos, a successful scenario for an exciting plot. An example of this appears when Anna imagines a single enemy canine as, “thousands of them surrounding the car…” (par 50). Anna feels so overwhelmed by all the chaos that the single dog plaguing her seems like thousands. She becomes enveloped in this fear which forces her to call upon childhood memories of family and sweets to supply her with enough strength to overcome the situation. The climax of the plot unearths an idea which readers may find disheartening: chaos cannot always be overcome. An example of this manifests when Anna thinks she found safety in a rundown car, but the dog somehow finds her again (par 35-48). In this continuation of the cycle of chaos, Anna climbs out of her shelter only to see a shape far

down the road which turns into the enemy dog. After the revelation that the canine once again returns ‘for the kill’ the author ends the scene, leaving the reader with a sense of chaos and confusion. Furthermore, Ammaniti conveys the idea that we may never completely outrun the inevitable, but we should still try, just as Anna always defends herself with every ounce of strength she can muster.
Niccolo Ammaniti paints the world in his book Anna using conflict and plot coupled with setting to advance the theme of chaos. Adding to that, the author employs several elements of short-fiction, including circumstances, protagonist vs. antagonist, repetition, environment, and tone, to heighten the sense of conflict in a chaotic setting. By introducing the character in a colorful setting, such as an apocalyptic world, the author provides the reader with someone to root for. Ammaniti does this in an efficient way. In addition, Ammaniti designs a thrilling plot along with his intricate setting, complete with chase scenes, true fears, and final stands. Each of these scenes Ammaniti depicts using elements like time or era, background, development, climax, and resolution. These constituents depict how people deal with chaos in life. By relating stressful situations through a riveting fictional story, an author can reach their readers and provide a bastion to which the reader can cling to in times of trouble. The story Anna does exactly this, providing an escape from the struggles of real life by distracting the reader and giving them a taste of someone else’s life. All people deal differently with chaos, Anna teaches us the sheer amount of strength a mere child can muster against the most intensely chaotic experiences; Anna’s physical battles enable us to understand and deal with our own chaotic lives in a new way.