Dysfunctional Relationship Depicted In 'Sticks' By George Saunders

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

the pole as holiday decorations which eventually progressed into more disturbing imagery. “Mom died and he dressed the pole as Death and hung from the crossbar photos of Mom as a baby.” The casual tone of this sentence downplays the severity of this statement. The author purposely has the narrator speak this way throughout the majority of the story to relay the negative aspects of the narrator’s relationship with his father. This style of writing takes away the personal aspect of the events. When the narrator displays this style, he appears to be avoiding connecting himself with the sensitive matters he talks about. The narrator might have felt strongly about the situations he mentions in the past, but at some point the narrator realized that the pole meant more to his father than his own child. The narrator implies this by stating, “The pole was Dad’s only concession to glee.” which would be a reasonable explanation for the narrator’s apathetic tone. When a child knows their parent values a materialistic good more than their offspring, this can sever any positive and loving connection and fester a long-standing grudge within said child.
The father’s problem is apparent, even in glimpses of childhood.

“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

contains.
The father wanted to be forgiven for something, and based on the clue’s littered throughout the text, it can be inferred that this relates to his relationship with his children. He had been portrayed as stingy, distant and mean by the stories the narrator tells, but this final message hints at a side of the father we have barely seen; the part of the father that cares deeply for his children. The author gives a glimpse of this and then immediately pulls attention towards the father’s death. This suggests the sensitivity of this topic, and further proves the strain in their relation to each other. Furthermore, the flippant manner in which the pole and sticks were discarded expresses that the father’s turmoil held no significance to the new couple, as they had no connection to the him, and ultimately seemed to hold little significance the narrator based on the his tendency to avoid delicate subjects.