The Theme of Raymond Carver's poem "Photograph of My Father In His 22nd Year"
Growing up we all had expectations of who we should be imposed upon us by our parents. Whether or not we achieved those expectations upon reaching adulthood isn't really the final outcome. There is a greater lesson learned regardless of how we benefited from the imposition. And that realization is what truly shapes our final character. Raymond Carver entertains this topic in his poem, "Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-second Year." In this poem Carver provides us with a beautifully touching slice of life that is not only flawless in writing and technique, but that connects and emotionally evokes feelings that are universal in all readers.
The poem begins by bluntly stating that the month is October. A young man is standing in a kitchen that he describes as "Here in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen" (1). Even though this is a very brief, vague description, the reader gets the feeling that the young man knows this kitchen very well, yet not like he once remembered it. The reader is to infer that the young man has come back to his childhood home for one reason or another and is standing in his old kitchen. He has been here many times, yet it feels alien to him. This concept is further elaborated further on in the poem. He is holding a photograph of his father when he was very young. He comments, "I study my father's embarrassed young man's face" (2). He describes his father in the picture as having a "sheepish grin" and holding "a string of spiny yellow perch" and a "bottle of Carlsbad beer" (3-5). This description helps to set the tone for the photograph, providing superficial surface details that erode to reve...
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... end of the poem as if he is speaking to his father, attempting to let him know that even though he tried to be the man he thought he should be, and most likely imposed that attitude on his son, they were more alike than his father would ever understand.
The great thing about Raymond Carver's poem is not the beautiful imagery, or imaginative writing, it's the connection the reader makes with the young man in the poem. We have all conflicting ideas with our parents regarding who we should be and what direction our lives should take, and Carver is able to condense all of the emotions associated with that struggle into fifteen lines. The poem is also able to teach a wonderful life lesson that all people from different walks of life can benefit from: to be truly understood, and to truly understand those around you, you must first be true to yourself.
“Those Winter Sundays” tells of Robert Hayden’s father and the cold mornings his father endures to keep his family warm in the winters. In “Digging” Heaney is sitting in the window watching his father do hard manual labor, which has taken a toll on his body. In “My Father as a Guitar” Espada goes to the doctors office with his father and is sitting in the office with his dad when the doctor tells him he has to take pain killers and to stop working because his body was growing old and weak. The authors of the poems all look at their fathers the same; they look at them with much respect and gratitude. All three poems tell of the hard work the dads have to do to keep their family fed and clothed. “The landlord, here a symbol of all the mainstream social institutions that hold authority over the working class” (Constantakis.) Espada’s father is growing old and his health is deteriorating quickly but his ability to stop working is not in his own hands, “I can’t the landlord won’t let me” (774.) “He is separated from the homeland, and his life in the United States is far from welcoming” (Constantakis.) Espada’s Grandmother dies in Puerto Rico and the family learns this by a lett...
Everything around this point, the narrator is now just reminiscing on the picture. It is becoming more obvious that the father did have an effect on the narrator now that he’s grown up. The very last two lines of the stanza, which is “She does not know/ I will turn out bad,” is the best evidence to really jump to the theme. There is already an immediate foreshadow from the narrator that everything that happened led up to the very moment he’s looking back at the picture. The end result may be a terrible ending, or it could even be an experience that further toughened the narrator, but we can tell for sure that the father did have an effect on whatever happens to the narrator at the end. This whole stanza is able to capture the whole theme that was stated.
father’s childhood, and later in the poem we learn that this contemplation is more specifically
The poem starts out with the daughter 's visit to her father and demand for money; an old memory is haunting the daughter. feeding off her anger. The daughter calls the father "a ghost [who] stood in [her] dreams," indicating that he is dead and she is now reliving an unpleasant childhood memory as she stands in front of his
It is really a hard part of the poem as he realizes that father was giving all his services without making him realize anything but how could he remain so unaware of the harshness faced by the father, this is dreadful and he even goes on to curse himself for this as he writes “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?” (3) In the last stanza is clear description of the regret and anguish for not expressing the love and appreciation to his father. This is not it but he has used his anguish and desperation at the start of the poem as “No one ever thanked him” (4). It is very agonizing for the poet no matter whether his father felt that anytime but writer is really cursing himself for not taking any care of his father
A father can play many roles throughout a child’s life: a caregiver, friend, supporter, coach, protector, provider, companion, and so much more. In many situations, a father takes part in a very active position when it comes to being a positive role model who contributes to the overall well-being of the child. Such is the case for the father in the poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. In this poem, readers are shown the discreet ways in which a father can love his child. On the other hand, there are also many unfortunate situations where the fathers of children are absent, or fail to treat the children with the love and respect that they undoubtedly deserve. In the contrasting poem “Like Riding a Bicycle” by George Bilgere, readers are shown how a son who was mistreated by his drunken father is affected by their past relationship many years later. Although both of these poems have fairly similar themes and literary techniques, they each focus on contradicting situations based on the various roles a father can play in a child’s life.
Thomas uses a great deal of tone and emotion in his literary works, especially this poem that I have researched. His tone is very restricted emotionally which is that he expresses his feelings with an instinctual emotion. Thomas tone is very urgent and possessive when he explains each stage his father has experienced. The poem reads how the writer idolizes his father which defines the magnitude of his love for him. Thomas implies in this poem that life is important; especially how you live it, in that there is no greater feeling than to live life happy, to the fullest and with absolutely no regrets. Thomas identifies every characteristic his father resembles to him in corresponding stanzas. The poem is built to...
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
We have all grown up hearing our parent's advice "Do as I say, not as I do". When your parents give this advice you do not always listen at first, but later on in life you may catch yourself using it. I believe it is very important value, respect and listen to what your parent's say; their experience with life is their major tool in shaping their children into adults.
The poem told the story of a man who is inhibited by language, and has never quite had the ability to articulate his thoughts and feeling through words. It is said that his family members have tried
As Carter opens the poem, he tells how at this point in his life, he still has this essential want for things his own father presented him growing up. In the beginning, he expresses he has this “…pain [he] mostly hide[s], / but [that] ties of blood, or seed, endure” (lines 1-2). These lines voice how he longs for his father and just how painful it is without him at his side. In addition, he still feels “the hunger for his outstretched hand” (4) and a man’s embrace to take [him] in” (5). Furthermore, Carter explains how this “pain” he “feel[s] inside” (3) are also due to his “need for just a word of pr...
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe...
...a silence deep and white” (Line,4) they are talking about how the white snow is beautiful and, how it looks like to me this is a love of nature to some maybe not.Last one is Intuition over fact in this quote “Father,who makes the snow?” (Line,22) says his daughter, “And told of the good All father” (Line,23) and lastly “Who cares for us here below” (Line,24) he is talking about and all father which i believe he is talking about god,and this is a great characteristic for this poem.
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