Glossolalia

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Recommended: Essays about family dynamics

David Jauss, the author of Glossolalia, teaches at UALR and in the low-residency MFA in a writing program at Vermont College. His most recent book was You Are Not Here which was written in 2002. Michael Chabon has also written The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, A Model World, Wonder Boys and of course, Werewolves in their Youth. In Glossolalia, it is the gradual relationship between a father and son. At first, Dany shows his dislike for his father but gradually, his hate grows to love. In Werewolves in their Youth, it is about Paul whom first detests Timothy but gradually begins liking him and they become friends. In both if these short stories, the authors sentimentalize family.

In David Jauss’ Glossolalia, the main character goes from hating to loving his father. The very first scene focuses on the son’s hate for his father. His father, doing him and his mother a favor, turns on the thermostat early in the morning so that he and his mother could wake up to a warm, cozy house. His father then takes a shower and is ready to leave for work. By contrast, the narrator of the story takes this badly, and declares that the furnace and shower woke him.Later on in the story, his father returns from work making very strange noises and uttering gibberish. He first thinks not to go see him but later goes running into the kitchen asking what happened.

I wanted to go to him and ask him what was wrong, but I didn’t dare…But then I couldn’t stand it anymore and I got up and ran down the hall to the kitchen. There, in the middle of the room, wearing his Goodyear jacket and work clothes was my father. He was on his hands and knees, his head hanging as though it were too heavy to support, and he was rocking back and forth and babbling in a rhythmical stutter. It’s funny, but the first thing I thought when I saw him like that was the way he used to let me ride on his back, when I was little, bucking and neighing like a horse. And as soon as I thought it, I felt my heart lurch in my chest.

After this event, the reader can really see that deep down, the protagonist loves and cares for his father. As he hears his father enter the house babbling gibberish, he begins getting worried.

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