In the poem ¨My Father¨ by Scott Hightower, the author describes a rather unstable relationship with his now deceased father. Scott describes his father as a mix of both amazing and atrocious traits. The father is described as someone who constantly contradicts himself through his actions. He is never in between but either loving and heroic or cold and passive. The relationship between Scott and his father is shown to be always changing depending on the father’s mood towards him. He sees his father as the reason he now does certain things he finds bad. But at the end of it all, he owes a great deal to his father. Scott expresses that despite his flaws, his father helped shape the man he is today. Hightower uses certain diction, style, and imagery to …show more content…
portray his relationship with his father as mixed and conflicting. His ambivalent diction, or choice of words, provides readers with mixed signals. The lyrical style of his poem confirms the emotional appeal attached to the conflicting image of his father.
Hightowers immense use of imagery allows readers to feel connected to him by the appeals to the senses. However, these three elements help Hightower express the theme of unconditional love towards his father. While he is sometimes described negatively, that is nothing compared to the good that his father represented. Scott Hightower uses a conflicting diction in the poem to represent the kind of relationship he had with his late father. Most lines contain either negative or positive words to describe Scott’s father. But certain lines have mixed emotions involved due to the conflicting word choice. First of all, Hightower speaks in a way that most may find disrespectful towards a parental figure. This can be seen when he calls his father “a horse’s ass”. Some children may think of their parents this way but it’s a different matter to describe them in such a derogatory way. He implies to the audience that he sees his father as someone rude and annoying. Hightower also says that his father was a rat. In using the word “rat” he correlates his father with an animal normally considered as despicable and deceitful. One begins to see Scott’s father as an antagonist instead of a supportive parental
figure. Furthermore, Hightower’s language gives his father an almost inhuman personality and temper. He is compared to a Zeus-like god instead of a normal man where his angry behavior is concerned. Scott claims that “He stomps and hurls lightning bolts.” This makes his father seem like a God-like entity that only seems to descend from the heavens when angered. By saying that he “hurls lightning bolts”, he shows that he was afraid of his father’s wrath and avoided angering him at all costs. But the father is also given good descriptions that may or may not balance out the bad ones. Scott claims that “My father believed in decency and fair play [...] Taught me to pray.” Decency and fair play are usually seen as admirable concepts for parents to teach their children. In addition, for some, the concept of someone teaching you to pray can hold that person in your heart forever. He shows that despite how difficult his father could be, he is thankful for what he passed on to him. Although he calls his father some harsh names, he never once makes the reader think that he didn’t love him to some degree. Hightower’s use of diction demonstrates that despite his father’s shortcomings, he still looked up to him. The language used by Scott Hightower supports the claim of a conflicted but not unloving relationship with his father. The author uses the lyrical style of his poem to convey emotion towards the subject matter. If one reads the poem aloud, the music-like style will be obvious. The poem’s likeness to a song allows the author to express his ongoing theme of mixed emotions towards his father. First of all, this can be seen in the following line, “He stomps and hurls lightning bolts. Has slipped away. Passed away. My father was passé.” The lyrical style of this line places two different feelings next to each. On one hand, there is sadness when the reader notes that Hightower’s father is no longer alive. In contrast, there is an aloof tone given off as well when the father is described as “passé”, old news, unimportant. It’s quite a contradiction to have someone go from being missed to unimportant in that same person’s eyes. The lyrical style allowed Hightower to express the conflicting emotions he held for his father after his passing. Songs are normally used to describe feelings that one has trouble merely placing into words alone. Scott used the style to his advantage by placing all that frustration and conflict into the rhythmic tone of his poem. This style can also be seen when Hightower states, “My father believed in decency and fair play. My father drove the getaway. My father was a blue jay.” On one side of the spectrum, he is the man who taught him to be a decent person. But on the contrary, he is compared to a blue jay, a bird known for it’s trickery towards hawks. Scott used these contrasting concepts to emphasize the mixed emotions connected with his father. In conclusion, Hightower used the lyrical style to show the readers what kind of dynamic he has with his father. Had this not been a lyrical poem, the emotion behind it’s creation would have been completely lost. Scott Hightower uses plenty of visual imagery to portray his father as an inhuman character. The reader has plenty of images in their mind of the father by the time they finish the poem. In particular, the author mostly uses imagery to compare the father to various animals with negative connotations. For example, Scott refers to his father as a “yellow dog”. A yellow dog is used to refer to someone who is incredibly cowardly. The comparison has the readers picturing a cowardly dog in the place of Hightower’s father. His father is described as another animal, specifically a bird when Scott states, “My father was a bluejay”. Blue jays are naturally tricky animals that are known for mimicking hawk’s calls. This comparison makes Hightower’s father appear to be a person who plays tricks just for the fun of it. On the contrary, he is compared with animals that have positive meanings. He is described as a Siberian tiger which usually represents someone bold and powerful, two traits that Hightower considers important. The father is also called a lamb, bringing forth to readers an image of purity and innocence. In addition, imagery is also used in broader terms to describe the father’s personality. Hightower tells readers that his father was “passive, a little moody: rock...paper...scissors.” This language provides an image of uncertainty and unpredictability by having his mood compared with a game of rock, paper, scissors. In saying, “My father drove the getaway” Hightower implies that sometimes their father-son relationship could be compared to that of partners in crime. The father probably helped him escape punishment when he misbehaved. The imagery in this poem allows the reader to see two completely different sides of Hightower’s father. One could see the father who was a role model for his son as well as the one who scared him away. The author of “My Father”, Scott Hightower, conveyed the theme of unconditional love towards his late father. He was able to achieve a conflicting tone by using mixed diction, a lyrical style, and plenty of imagery that describes his father. He used words with opposing meanings in juxtaposition to emphasize the two sides he knew of his father. The lyrical style of the poem allowed him to genuinely express the emotions he felt for his late father. Hightower also used plenty of imagery to make the readers see his father as more of a force than a human being. Although the author remains a rather conflicting attitude towards his father, the theme of unconditional love is never lost. Hightower greatly notes that he acknowledges his father’s flaws but at the end of it all, he loves him regardless.
The Mother is among a family of four who lives on a small farm and takes immense pride in what interests her, however her passion does not particularly lie in her two children; James and David; nor in her husband and their interests; but instead lies within her chickens. Though chickens bring the most joy to the Mother, they are not the sole animals that live on the farm. The animal that draws the most interest from the father, James and David is their horse, Scott. At a young age, Scott was used as a working mule for the family and grew up alongside the Father and two Sons. To the father, Scott was like one of his own sons, and to James and David, Scott was like their brother; but according to the Mother, “He’s been worthless these last few years”(Macleod, 267). Ever since Scott was young, he was a burden on the Mother’s lifestyle; she never took a liking to the horse even when he served as a source of profit for the family. The Mother had never appreciated the sentimental value that Scott possessed because he had never been a particular interest to her. Once Scott had aged and was no longer able...
The relationship between a father and a son can be expressed as perhaps the most critical relationship that a man endures in his lifetime. This is the relationship that influences a man and all other relationships that he constructs throughout his being. Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead explores the difficulty in making this connection across generations. Four men named John Ames are investigated in this story: three generations in one family and a namesake from a closely connected family. Most of these father-son relationships are distraught, filled with tension, misunderstanding, anger, and occasionally hostility. There often seems an impassable gulf between the men and, as seen throughout the pages of Gilead, it can be so intense that it creates
At the beginning of the poem, the audience is able to witness an event of a young boy asking his father for story. While the father was deemed a “sad” man, it is later shown that his sadness can be contributed to his fear of his son leaving him. The structure then correlated to the point of going into the future. The future was able to depict what would happen to the loving duo. The father's dreams would become a reality and the son's love and admiration would cease to exist as he is seen screaming at his father. Wanting nothing to do with him. The young, pure child can be seen trying to back lash at his father for acting like a “god” that he can “never disappoint.” The point of this structure was not really a means of clarification from the beginning point of view, but more as an intro to the end. The real relationship can be seen in line 20, where it is mentioned that the relationship between the father and son is “an emotional rather than logical equation.” The love between this father and son, and all its complexity has no real solution. But rather a means of love; the feelings a parent has for wanting to protect their child and the child itself wanting to be set free from their parents grasp. The structure alone is quite complex. Seeing the present time frame of the father and son
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
In Kooser’s poem “Father,” he expresses how his father died earlier than his time because he was in so much pain and it was better for him to leave with his dignity than die in misery. He misses his father but is grateful for the way he passes and he says that the flowers still welcome his father’s spirit. All of his lines are straightforward and give the details one needs to figure out each character. His father was a hypochondriac, someone who is afraid of having a serious illness, and it is implied that the poet
Brad Manning’s “Arm Wrestling with My Father” and Sarah Vowell’s “Shooting Dad” are two readings that are similar in topic but are presented in different ways. Manning describes his relationship with his father was a physical relationship. Vowell describes her relationship with her father as more political. In both Brad Manning’s and Sarah Vowell’s essays, they both had struggled to connect with their fathers at an early age and both come to a realization that their fathers aren’t immortal.
There is no greater bond then a boy and his father, the significant importance of having a father through your young life can help mold you to who you want to become without having emotional distraught or the fear of being neglected. This poem shows the importance in between the lines of how much love is deeply rooted between these two. In a boys life he must look up to his father as a mentor and his best friend, the father teaches the son as much as he can throughout his experience in life and build a strong relationship along the way. As the boy grows up after learning everything his father has taught him, he can provide help for his father at his old-age if problems were to come up in each others
When the speaker refers to his childhood, he exaggerates everything he sees. For example, mere hills were great mountains, trickling streams were raging rivers, and a withered path of dust was a wide road leading to anywhere in the world. The speaker does this in order to allow the reader to see how differently he viewed everything as a child. Also, the speaker overstates his father when he declares, “Only the giant who was my father/remained the same./A hundred strong men strained beneath his coffin.” (Parks, lines 10-12) By comparing his father to a giant who needs a hundred strong men to carry him to his grave, the speaker amplifies how much his father meant to him. Throughout the poem, Gordon Parks uses a hyperbolic tone to both magnify how the speaker’s view of the world changed and emphasize the importance of his father.
father’s childhood, and later in the poem we learn that this contemplation is more specifically
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.
There is a special bond between parents and children, but there is always uncertainty, whether it’s with the parents having to let go or the children, now adults, reminiscing on the times they had with their parents. The poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home” by Linda Pastan is a very emotional poem about what you can assume: a daughter leaving home. Then the poem “Alzheimer 's" by Kelly Cherry is about the poet’s father, a former professional musician who develops the disease. These are only two examples that show the ambivalence between the parents and the children.
Indeed, the satirical tone of this poem suggests that the speaker is somewhat critical of his father. The whiskey smell, the roughness, the inconsiderate and reckless actions are under scrutiny. The mother's frowning countenance suggests she too is rather unhappy with the scene. However, the winning tone of the poem is the light and comical one.
Irwin’s use of imagery lies in son’s sensory reliance when recalling his memories of his father; the darkness of the closet, the scent of the rain, earth and father’s hair and touch lead the son to a lonely place. It appears that the son is also trying to understand and question his religion in the wake of the death of his father. The metaphors in this poem are robust; it opens with “Sunday mornings” which has religious connotation (1). The reality and finality of the father’s death appears to set-in with the reference to the “godsome air”. The son then refers to his father’s death as “his fabulous sleep”
Imagine having an unhealthy relationship with either one of your parents. In the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, briefly explains the relationship character Amir has with his father and struggles to maintain a decent relationship because of his love for literature. In Father by Alice Walker, narrator Alice explains her endeavor to be in good terms with her father also because of her love for literature. Both the novel and poem show the internal conflict both narrators go through to build a good bond with their father. Even though both narratives have similar plot structures, there are still differences regarding their families condition.
The relationship between a father and his son can be articulated as without a doubt the most significant relationship that a man can have throughout the duration of his life. To a further extent the relationship between a father and a son can be more than just a simple companionship. Just like a clown fish and a sea anemone, both father and son will rely on each other in order to survive the struggles of their everyday lives. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happyness both depict a story between a father and son using each other as a means of survival when faced with adversity. When placed in a tough situation father and son must create a symbiotic relationship in order to survive. Upon the duo of father and son can creating a symbiotic relationship, it will result in a mutual dependency on each other. This theme of paternal love is omnipresent given the bond between the two characters.