The father has very few looks in this story, majority of the time it being his fisherman/work outfit. The first description that you get of the father is the son describing his earliest memories with his father. He describes him as a view of gigantic rubber boots, as he lifts his son up and presses him up against his stubbly cheeks, taking in a big smell of salt in the process. The next look the son describes is of the scene on the boat when him and his father are working together. They both are wearing heavy sweaters, awkward runner slickers, and heavy woolen mitts that have been soaked and froze into huge ice chunks. The last way the father looks is when he is found washed up and wedged in between two large boulders. His hands and feet looked like shredded ribbons, his boots had been washed away at sea, his skin soft and tearing in every spot due to the salt water, his eyes were missing, but a great white beard still grew on his bloated purple face. All of these descriptions give you a clear image of what the father would look like. All three of these sections are very important to the story due to the fact that without this you would not have an idea of what the father would look like, and then it would be a completely different story because of it.
The father interacts very little to what you would image a father would with his family, but he also doesn't interact with other people much either. The first interaction the father has with his son is of them going out on the boat together for the first time, the story explains the father holding the boy up on his shoulders the entire time, and humming a little song. This is one of the only real memories the boy has with his father, because the father is unhappy with his life, meaning he tries to escape from his family as much has possible. A very important interaction the father has is when he gets drunk with the tourists and starts singing. This scene really is symbolic to the father's regret to having the life he does, he used other means besides his radio and books to escape form the sad life believes he has. Something you don't see up until this point. The next important interaction the father has is when he gets sick and his son agrees to work with him on the boat until his final day. This is a crucial scene because if the son had not agreed to it, the father probably would have passed away much sooner due to lack of company. The last very important interaction the father has is his last day on the boat, it was suppose to be his last day of the fishing season, but instead is his last day ever. He ends up falling off the boat, and since he cannot swim he drowns and washes up days later. This is a very important part because it is the last time anyone ever sees the father alive, he is now forever happy because he doesn't have any more obligations to anyone but himself. It was his final escape from the life he never wanted.
Probably the hardest decision the son has to make is when the father says to him, "I am not telling you to do anything, only asking.". The son had to decide what is more important, his dreams of school, or his obligation to his family. The son chooses the same path the father did, but in a way that he can still end up happy. He dropped out of school to work on the boat with his father until the day he passes, so that he can still live the dreams he has always wanted but keep with the obligation to his Father. The very meaningful words that were said to the son was when he decided to work on the boat. He went into his Father's bedroom where he was reading his book and smoking a cigarette, and told him that he has decided to fish the seas with him until his final day. The Father then replied to him, "I hope you will remember what you've said.", this piece of dialogue being very important in understanding his way of thinking. The Father up till this point is still very selfish in his decisions, but he acknowledged the fact that although his son was not following in his footsteps he still accepted the obligations he had to undertake. Most likely the most evocative dialogue in this story is when one day the Mother tells her son, "You have given added years to his life.". This is so evocative because it really gives you the feeling of what the story is really trying to tell you. The story is trying to tell you that although the father is portrayed as a bad father, he really did fight to give his son good memories with him. For a few short years he gave all he had to his son so that he would understand why he acted the way he all those years, and you also find out just how similar the two are to each other. So in a sense the son also went to school and became a professor, in a way for his Father also.
When the story explains about the Father's actions after work, i.e him coming home from and going straight to his bedroom to lay down and read, it really is reflecting how the Father feels about is life. I believe that the he really is showing the reader that he does not take pride, or enjoyment from his family or his work. Another aspect I believe really reflects the Father's feeling towards his life, is when the story informs you about him not approving of his children playing at the wharf with other children. It tells me that he wants his children to have a similar life he does, even though he doesn't like his. My predication is that as a child he was always working with his own father on their boat, and feels that because he never got the chance to have friends, neither should his kids. I think one of the most important lines in this story is, "he had said that he had always wanted to go to university.". This line is so significant because this is the key idea of the story, in other words he never wanted the life of a fisherman but in fact a completely different path for himself. It is so important because this is the only time its actually says in the entire story he never wanted to be a fisherman. A very powerful section in the story is when the son finally realizes that his father was a failure as a husband and father because he was forced into his life. The Father was also a only son so he had to take over for his Dad and had to throw away his dreams forever, also throwing away his happiness and passion. This part is so powerful because it ties together the main idea of the story, and makes you feel empathy towards the Father.
All of these six elements are trying to explain to you the Father and the history behind him so that you feel empathetic towards him. The reason this is something the author wants to stand out is because its a complex aspect. It's complex in the sense that it as so many other parts to it, like the father's past, the wife, the son being so similar to his father,the bedroom, and his death. It's not something that you would get out of the story unless you stopped and analysed all of these elements. I mean sure, I scratched the surface of the idea on my first read, but I never really understood the whole concept until I looked at each separate factor. So in that way it is complex. But i is also a universal idea or feeling in the way that everyone gets stuck in doing many things they never wanted to do. This is why it is such a good story for anyone to read, regardless of if you understand the fishing career. You will always understand the universal idea of obligations.
Really great analysis and deep consideration of the story ! Keep up the great work ^_^ !!!
ReplyDelete