Dysfunctional Relationship Depicted In 'Sticks' By George Saunders

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In “Sticks”, the author, George Saunders, uses rapid transitions to showcase the narrator’s emotional relationship, or lack thereof, with his father. Based on quotes from the narrator’s backstory and the tone that the narrator uses, it can be deduced that the two of them had a strained relationship. The scarcity of emotional input from the narrator caused by this dysfunctional relationship creates an indifferent vibe throughout the story. The author introduces the characters relationship as the narrator describes some of the father’s habits and rituals over the years. Through this the father’s mental health is seen to be slowly deteriorating. He is shown to be losing himself through a long-term breakdown surrounding the pole. He began dressing …show more content…

“The first time I brought a date over she said: what’s with your dad and that pole? And I sat there blinking.” The narrator had grown up with his father’s obsession and considered it normal. There is no transition or explanation following this statement - a noticeable trend in this story - so there is no clear progression of the narrator’s reaction to this realization. The next paragraph immediately starts with, “We left home, married, had children of our own, found the seeds of meanness blooming also within us.” This is one of the few times we get a clear indication of the narrator’s feelings towards his father. It can be assumed that the narrator’s sudden awareness of his inferior status to the pole had a large affect on him and his view of his father. The final transition speaks the most towards the overall emotional connection of the story. “He painted a sign saying LOVE and hung it from the pole and another that said FORGIVE? And then he died in the hall with the radio on and we sold the house to a young couple who yanked out the pole and sticks and left them by the road on garbage day.” The sudden transitions are once again stated nonchalantly, to downplaying the multiple events this sentence

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