Characterisation

In this section, we characterise the boy who is the main character in the short story and furthermore emphasise some important things about the relationship between him and his father, which are worth considering when you characterise and analyse this story.…

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The boy - any boy

The story centers around an eight-year-old boy and the relationship with his father. We don’t know his name and that is not important since this could be any eight-year-old faced with family problems. His mother and father are divorced for nearly one year now, and he currently lives with his mom and her boyfriend, named Jim. His father’s absence has deeply affected him, and he is unconsciously looking for ways to mend this weakening bond between father and son. He constantly asks questions and wants to learn as much as he can in the short time they spend together.

Internal conflict and contrasting views

Like any regular son, he sees a model to emulate in his dad, only now he has an ongoing internal battle with his mother’s con…

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The father

As we have seen, the emphasis is placed on the relationship between father and son rather than on each character separately. For the better part of the story, we only see the father (also called “the man”) through the boy’s eyes. We can assume that the divorce weighs strongly on his shoulders and that he feels emasculated by Jim’s presence. Even though he rarely sees his son anymore, he seems to be absent minded, aloof and even distant. He only gives short, monosyllabic answers. He doesn’t seem to show much concern fo…