Characters

There are only two characters in “Crossing”: the man and his son. The boy’s mother as well as the man’s own father are briefly mentioned in the man’s flashbacks, but the focus is on the two main characters and their journey into the woods.

The father is the main character and the one whose point of view we see things through. Psychologically, he seems to be having a hard time; he is still trying to find his feet after his divorce from the boy’s mother, and throughout the short story his feelings change from sadness through hope to hopelessness. He is haunted by past failures and has brought his young son on a camping trip in order to be a better father. As the title of the short story suggests, he is in the process of crossing from his old role as a husband and family father to finding his new role in life.

The son is an important character, too, since he is the reason his father has taken him out camping; his father wants to build the best possible relationship with him and make up for past mistakes. The son is only described through his outer characteristics such as his physical size. We are repeatedly told about his skinny legs, small hips and the like, which underlines how he is really too young be on a trip like that. The boy generally seems to be fond of his father and does as he is told.