Why has Alan visited the old man in "The Chaser"?
Alan does not say exactly what he wants at first, although it becomes obvious that he is in love and wants a love potion. He is pursuing a girl appropriately named Diana (after the virgin Greek goddess who would have nothing to do with men). Both men are being discreet. Alan knows that the old man is operating a criminal business and that he could easily make him suspicious by blurting out his request too early. Alan has been given the old man's address and card in strict confidence by a friend. The proprietor is keeping a very low profile, just as if he were an abortionist or dope dealer. It isn't until the proprietor has told him all about his "chaser," which he calls a "glove cleaner" and other names, that Alan reveals exactly what brought him to this shabby, out-of-the-way location.
"But the love potion?" said Alan.
"Oh,...
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that," said the old man, opening the drawer in the kitchen table, and taking out a tiny, rather dirty-looking phial. "That is just a dollar."
"I can't tell you how grateful I am," said Alan, watching him fill it.
"I like to oblige," said the old man. "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."
"Thank you again," said Alan. "Good-bye."
The story ends quickly after Alan has gotten what he wants. No doubt Diana will fall madly in love with him and behave exactly the way the old man foretells. The wise old potion-vendor says "Au revoir" as Alan exits, indicating that he expects to see Alan again when the fervent young man has matured and become disenchanted with wedded bliss.
How does Alan find the old man's shop in "The Chaser"?
The old man is operating an illegal business in a run-down building in New York. He does not advertise and obviously keeps a low profile. He depends for customers on recommendations of others who have been satisfied with the effects of his potions, both the original love potion and later with the "chaser." We know that Alan Austen has been given the old man's name and address in confidence.
Alan, without a word, handed him the card he had been given.
There probably is no law against selling love potions, but there must certainly be laws against selling undetectable poisons to men who want to dispose of their wives. As Emerson wrote:
If you build a better mousetrap the world will beat a path to your door.
Some things in stories have to be taken as "givens." We have to accept the author's specification that there is actually an old man who deals in love potions and poisons. The French call this a donnée, which means a premise the reader must accept if he wants to appreciate the story. There are many stories with farfetched assumptions, or données, such as the assumption that a man like General Zaroff actually hunts humans on Ship Trap Island in "The Most Dangerous Game."
The author of "The Chaser" made many farfetched assumptions, and they provide delight for his fans. In one of his stories collected in Fancies and Goodnights, Collier tells about a poet who manages to survive in the big city by posing as a mannequin in a department store during business hours and being free to roam the store and write his poetry by night. He finds out that all the other mannequins are people doing the same thing.
How does the old man know Alan's name in "The Chaser"?
This is a great question because the story doesn't answer it. Readers are given the following line about the old man and his knowledge of Alan's name:
An old man sat in the rocking-chair, reading a newspaper. Alan, without a word, handed him the card he had been given. "Sit down, Mr. Austen," said the old man very politely. "I am glad to make your acquaintance."
The reason that this question is a good question is because it is open-ended. Readers are meant to wonder how the old man could possibly know Alan's name. The card is a good place to start. We are not told what is written on the card, but we do come to find out that the old man deals in a variety of special elixirs—unrealistically fantastic elixirs. It's doubtful the old man advertises his business beyond word of mouth. A previous customer probably came into contact with Alan, heard about Alan's desire, and sent Alan to the old man with the card/note in hand. The card could say something like, "This is my friend Alan Austen, and he could use some of your special help."
It's also conceivably possible that the old man mystically just knows the name of a customer as they walk through the door. That sounds completely ridiculous; however, remember that the old man sells a potion that causes a person to completely fall in love with another person. That's hardly realistic, so giving the old man the power to know somebody's name seems fairly insignificant.
In the story, a particular line from the text explains how the old man knows Alan's name:
An old man sat in the rocking-chair, reading a newspaper. Alan, without a word, handed him the card he had been given. "Sit down, Mr. Austen," said the old man very politely. "I am glad to make your acquaintance."
It is only after Alan hands the card over to the old man that he (Alan) is addressed by name. Now, the story does not tell us what is written on the card, but we can hypothesize that the card probably contains a message or note introducing Alan to the old man and explaining his need for the old man's help. The old man also addresses Alan "very politely" after he finishes reading the card; he tells Alan that he is very pleased to make his acquaintance. Possibly, the old man is well acquainted with and respects the person who has spoken on Alan's behalf.
In "The Chaser", how does the old man trick Alan?
The old man doesn't precisely trick Alan; it's perhaps more accurate to say that Alan tricks himself.
When the old man offers Alan a love potion, he tells Alan in no uncertain terms exactly what the potion will do. The concoction will make Alan's love interest want "nothing but solitude and [Alan]," it will make Alan "the sole interest in her life," and it will turn her into the type of wife who "will never allow you to be tired, to sit in a draught, to neglect your food. If you are an hour late, she will be terrified." To Alan, this sounds like true love. But the old man, along with the reader, recognizes the description as that of an overbearing obsessive stalker--not true, healthy love.
However, the old man unequivocally deserves credit for fooling Alan in one respect: the "glove-cleaner," an untraceable and lethal poison. He introduces it to Alan at the beginning of the conversation and reiterates it after Alan is sold on the love potion. The old man wants to make sure that Alan remembers the glove-cleaner, because he knows that Alan will soon realize the toxicity of his relationship--and will swiftly return for an escape from his overbearing lover.
What information does the old man have that Alan doesn't in "The Chaser"?
Each reader is welcome to answer this according to their own subjective interpretation. There are probably several things that we and the store owner know that Alan doesn't know. I think one safe option to discuss is the fact that Alan Austen doesn't know what true love is. That becomes clear to us after the old man describes what Diana will be like after having taken the love potion. What the old man describes is more closely related to infatuation, worship, and/or obsession than love, and Alan states that what is being described is what love must surely be.
"She will want to know all you do," said the old man. "All that has happened to you during the day. Every word of it. She will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why your are looking sad."
"That is love!" cried Alan.
Another possible answer to this question is that the old man and readers all know that Alan will certainly be back for the "glove-cleaner" potion. This certainty is even stated by the old man near the story's conclusion when he says that customers always come back when they are able to afford the more expensive potion.
"I like to oblige," said the old man. "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."