Compare The Relationship Between Father And Son In Powder By Tobias Wolff

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Parents play an irreplaceable role in the life of their children. They are a source of comfort and support warmth, security and protection, and they help each of their children to make sense of the world in which their live. In “Powder”, by Tobias Wolff, and “Father and I”, by Pär Lagerkvist, one of the common themes throughout the stories is the strong, irrefutable relationship between father and son. In “Powder”, the ordinary role of father and son is reversed. The boy and his father are quite different in personality, however the boy learns to admire his father and see him as a model of enjoying life to the fullest, without worrying over consequences. In Lagerkvist’s “Father and I”, the narrator feels he can depend on his father, which will …show more content…

The nine-year-old boy, the narrator, and the father maintain a strong relationship. For the kid, his father is his protector, his shelter, his guide, and the person that has all the strength, knowledge and assurance of the adult world. Both go on a Sunday walk holding hands, sharing emotions, listening to the singing of the birds and the sounds of nature, to which they are accustomed but for which they have never lost appreciation. Even though they are going toward the woods, “[walking] along the railway line”, the son feels secure in his father’s knowledge of his surrounding (Lagerkvist …show more content…

In any of them, rebellion was part of theses relationships; on the contrary, the four characters end up loving and respecting each other even more. The first, a father with widely different interests and personality than his son, shows him how to live his life to the fullest. The kid narrates one specific event with details to show how the event has completely changed his mindset. The ending line of the story describes what the boy took away from his experience with his father, “if you haven’t driven on fresh powder, you having driven”, meaning if a person has not tried to live their life completely, why is it worth even living. The second, the father presents to his son a world that makes him learns he must be in charge of his own safety and security. He learns life is full of darkness and mystery. Parents do not know everything. No one else can live his life for him and that he cannot stay safe at home

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