In Tobias Wolf’s memoir This Boy’s Life, the tone of the memoir and Wolf’s feelings about his biological father shift from being optimistic and understanding to hurt and betrayed, as depicted through parallel syntax and figurative language. First, the tone of the passage and Wolf’s childhood feelings about his biological father are initially wistful and optimistic, as the author depicts through parallel syntax and metaphors. When Wolf describes his absent father during his childhood, he explains how he “could see.why he had taken no interest, why he had never written to [him], why he seemed to have forgotten [he] existed” (5-6). Having been absent for most of Wolf’s childhood, Wolf describes how he often gave his biological father the benefit of …show more content…
Through this contrast, readers see how as a child Wolf felt understanding and compassion for his father’s absence, despite how his behavior may have appeared in hind sight. Similarly, after visiting his biological father on his way to work in Vietnam, Wolf explains how he still believed that his father “was no monster—he’d had troubles of his own” (8-9). Despite being the “inconstant parent” (4) in Wolf’s life, Wolf uses a metaphor to highlight how he didn’t think of his father as neglectful or harmful in any way, claiming that he was not a monster and instead just had troubles of his own. Through this metaphor, the author emphasizes how Wolf once felt admiration for and optimism about his father. He uses this piece of figurative language to highlight Wolf’s initial compassion towards his father and how he originally felt understanding of his father’s behavior and situation. Thus, through parallel syntax and metaphors, the author highlights the tone of the passage and Wolf’s feelings about his biological condition as being optimistic and