The father

The narrator’s father is an important character in the short story “Tin Man” by Jennifer Kerslake and his relationship with the narrator is central to the plot. The father is described as a big man who “can fell a tree in three strokes” but who is rather clumsy and has trouble with smaller tasks that might require more patience. The father has a job that involves working with his hands and probably with wood. He also has a workshop close to the house, where he spends his evenings.

The narrator’s father is a man who seems to have trouble expressing his emotions. He does not talk much, unlike the narrator’s mother, who would always tell stories at dinner time. There does not seem to be much communication between him and the narrator, which seems to strain their relationship, especially now that both of them are experiencing grief. Moreover, the father seems to be more comfortable performing concrete actions instead of communicating with the narrator. This is seen when he offers the narrator a sandwich and tells her he has put the immersion on, which the narrator describes as being “the closes...