1. THE CHASER
Prof. Miguel A. Arce
English

2. The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
John Collier
Summary
Analysis
Themes
Activities
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

3. John Collier

4. The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com
John Collier
1904
1930’s
1980
Read Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales when he was just three years old
Wrote “His Monkeys Wife” to critical acclaim.
Died in Los Angeles, California.
1901
1920
1959
Born in London.
His first publication.
The Chaser was presented in the show “The Twilight Zone”.
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

5. Story Summary

6. Story summary Alan Austin is looking for a shop in Pell Street.
He finally opened the door of the place that he was looking for.
As he opened the door, he saw a tiny room with no furniture but a plain kitchen table, a rocking-chair, and an ordinary chair.
He saw an old man and the old man greeted him.
Alan instantly asked the old man if it was true that he had a potion that produced extraordinary effects.

7. He begins to tell him about one that is undetectable in autopsies.
The old man starts to tell Alan about the different potions that he has in his shop.
Alan tells him, “you mean poison?”
The old man replies, “Call it glove cleaner if you wish.”
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

8. Alan tells him, he wants none of that potion.
The old man replies that the price of that potion is $5,000 for one teaspoon.
Alan then answers that he hopes that not all of his potions are that expensive.
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

9. Story summary
The old man answers no because, “It would be no good charging that sort of price for a love potion, for example. Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion.”
Alan was happy to hear that and asks him if it was true that he sold love potions.
Then, he states that if he did not sell love potions, he would not have mentioned the other potion.
He states please a customer with one potion and he will then come back for another…

10. Story summary
The old man tells him that his potions are permanent and to consider the spiritual side of what he wants.
He goes on to express the effects of the potion which is to make the person completely and one-hundred percent devoted to him.
He tells Alan that Alan would be her life.
Alan is completely mesmerized by the thought of that potion on Diana.
He then asks how much does the potion cost.

11. The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com
Story summary
The old man tells him one dollar.
He continues to explain the effects of the potion on Diana.
Alan is excited of that thought!
Alan tells him that he doesn’t know how grateful he is for this potion.
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

12. Story summary The old man answers, “Au revoir.”
He answers, "I like to oblige, then customers come back, later in life, when they are better off, and want more expensive things. Here you are. You will find it very effective.”
The old man answers, “Au revoir.”

13. Story Analysis

14. Story Analysis
The Chaser is an alcoholic term that means a softer drink that is taken after a strong one.
It was a term used commonly at the time of the publication of the story.
The chaser can also be a symbol of the narrator chasing for the love of Diana, a woman who probably is not as interested in him as he is to her.
The story’s main them is that of love. An older person’s view of love versus the way the youth view love.

15. Story Analysis
It may also be related to a cynical viewpoint of love where it never lasts eternally regardless of how much you want it to.
Love also becomes a chore and should be eliminated after x amount of time (a joke made on how repetitive love becomes) and when you has burned its time, you can eliminate the mistake (divorce).
However, in the story it is deeper than this because the solution is to kill Diana or a spouse with the love cleaner (poison).

16. Story Analysis
You see that the old man in the story repeats himself various times but Alan in his youth does not see the mistakes that he is making.
Collier is telling us how useless young people are; hence, the comment about young people not having enough money to buy the life cleaner and only with age that they can obtain it.
In other words, with age (experience, wisdom, intelligence) is when they will see the error of their ways and wish to get rid of the woman’s clinginess.

17. Story Analysis
You can also imply of how easy it is to stay in love but how difficult it is to get out of a relationship given different elements that can make the unhappy person stay.

18. Themes

19. The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com
THEMES
Love is a trap that makes you believe that you will be happy forever.
The old try to guide the young but they never seem to want to listen.
LOVE
AGING
No Slide Master
Love is a temporary illusion, will you live in a loveless relationship or how will you obtain your freedom.
When you are young, you rush into things without much thought.
YOUTH
ILLUSION
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com

20. Activities

21. Activities (Pre-Reading)
Start the discussion, talking about what are you done for love or what are you willing to do for love?
This will create discussion among your students and then ask, have you ever done something that you later regretted.
You can have students write a journal or create oral discussion with the questions.
You can also draw a magic potion on the board and state that it could make anyone fall in love with you, would you use it? Who would you use it on and why?

22. Activities (Reading)
While reading the story, make sure to note how shady the shop that Alan is getting into.
Discuss why the old man is telling him so much about the poison.
Discuss the selfishness in the Alan character and discuss how vividly the old man is telling him about the effects of the love potion.
It seems as if he is talking to a wall because Alan doesn’t care, he just wants the potion.

23. Activities (Post-Reading)
Discuss who is the antagonist in the story (Diana) and how she doesn’t even appear in the story.
Question whether they think that the old man tricked Alan or not.
Discuss the person vs. himself and person vs. fate conflict that this story presents.
Discuss the point of view of the story (third person objective) and state the reason the story has this point of view.
Ask again, would you use the magic potion with these consequences?

24. Special Thanks to:
Collier, J. (1958). The Chaser. Retrieved February 04, 2018, from
The Power of Power Point YouTube channel (Thepopp.com) for this amazing template. (Subscribe)
E Net Press for Collier’s biography
E-Notes for additional information on the story.

25. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING! Any Questions? Content created by Miguel Arce
Template created by Jun Akizaki – The Power of Power Point
Title Font: Bebas Neue
Text Font: Crimson Text
Icon: Font Awesome by Dave Gandy (Licence: CC BY 3.0)