In “Total Eclipse,” Annie Dillard describes the experience of witnessing a total solar eclipse for the first time. Her detailed description of the event and her perspective during her journey to the countryside to watch the eclipse lead to a multitude of reflections. The rare experience of the eclipse—she notes that the next total eclipse visible in Yakima Valley will be in 2086—impacts both Dillard’s perception of life and the individuals around her, catalyzing a change in how she views life.

In the essay’s opening line, Dillard establishes the motif of descent into the unknown as she and her husband travel through a makeshift tunnel carved through an avalanche: “It had been like dying, that sliding down the mountain pass” (14). The use of “sliding” suggests both a lack of control and an inability to return, foreshadowing the changes Dillard will undergo later in the narrative. She establishes a sense of foreboding when she wonders if the avalanche had victims: “Had the avalanche buried any cars that morning? We could not learn” (15). Imagery suggestive of tunnels, digging, and mines is also evident in the stuffy, “narrow” hotel lobby.