You Get What You Pay For
John Collier’s “The Chaser” is based on a young man’s desire to be loved as opposed to an elderly man’s extreme perception and experience of the outcome of experimenting with matters of the heart. Collier’s story has two characters: Alan Austen, the searcher for a special mixture to possess Diana’s heart and an elderly man, who makes his money when men like Alan return for the cleaner after they force love. As the story develops, we learn that love cannot be bought.
There is symbolism between the term chaser and glove cleaner when the old man says to Alan, “ ‘Call it a glove-cleaner if you like,’ said the old man indifferently. ‘Maybe it will clean gloves. I have never tried. One might call it a life cleaner. Life needs cleaning sometimes’ ” (Collier 1). The symbolization is that the life-cleaner is a poison that some people have returned for to get rid of the love-potion induced person. The definition of chaser according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary is “a mild drink taken after hard liquor” (Merriam-Webster.com). The chaser drink reduces the severity of the taste of hard liquor, like the life cleaner, reduces the severity of suffocating relationships.
One quote which showcases the double meaning is when the old man says, “ ‘For indifference,’ said the old man ‘they substitute devotion, for scorn, adoration. Give one tiny measure of this to the young lady-its flavor is imperceptible in orange juice, soup, or cocktails-and however gay and giddy she is, she will change altogether. She will want nothing but solitude and you’ ” (2). The old man is revealing that the special mixture will completely change Diana from the moment she ingests it. When Alan goes to see the old man for the potion, he is the one chasing Diana. The story makes us believe that after Diana takes the potion, the roles will switch and Diana will be the one chasing after Alan.
Supporting the symbolism in the old man’s method of selling his more expensive elixir is his use of double meaning. For example, “Au revoir” (Collier 3) carries a double meaning. The words mean goodbye, but they also suggest that the old man expects Alan will return to buy the life cleaner. The old man is telling Alan that his love will not last and that Diana’s obsessions will irritate, and suffocate his feelings for her to the point where he will want to return to the elderly man for the more expensive poison. Unmistakably the five thousand dollar elixir is “the chaser,” the untraceable poison.
The tone of “The Chaser” suggests that the idea of wanting “nothing but solitude” (Collier 2) with another person would not be pleasurable but instead would feel suffocating. In the story Alan didn’t realize all the negative consequences that may accompany Diana’s obsessive love for him. The words ‘be careful what you wish for’ is sometimes followed by ‘you just might get it.’

Works Cited

“chaser.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2014. http://merriam-webster.com
(19 January 2014).
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary was used to provide the actual definition of chaser to better symbolize the double meaning.

Collier, John. “The Chaser.” Class Handout. Dorothy Minor, Professor. Comp II. TCC, Tulsa, OK. 21 January 2014. PDF.
“The Chaser” is a short story by John Collier and provided by Professor Minor for Comp II. The story details Alan Austen’s search for a love potion which will make Diana fall in love with him as he is with her. The story leads readers to believe Mr. Austen may receive more than he bargains for when he pays $1.00 for the potion.