Pick a character in the story. What is this character's relationship with the narrator, and what could he/she symbolize?
For this question I have chosen the father.
In the short story, "The Boat," we see the dynamic between the narrator and his father undergo a very large transformation, and the father is a very central character to the story.
In the beginning, the father has a paternal role. Through child's eyes the narrator only knows that his father is very hard-working, leaving early in the morning and returning happily with a hug, although weary. He has to support his family, and knows it, and despite his chaotic room, life has an order to it.
But as the narrator grows older, his father can no longer be simply "dear old dad," and must begin to teach his only son how to live and work on the boat. In the story the narrator describes learning "all about boat dimensions and engines... the difference between a stenciled name and a painted name," which is proof, if the narrator still remembers it now, that his father was a good teacher.
Then father begins to go into a decline. This first becomes evident when the narrator describes the first real argument between his father and mother. His mother said "Well, I hope you'll be satisfied when they come home knocked up and you'll have had your way." The narrator describes this as "the most savage thing [he'd] ever heard [her] say." His father then flashed her a look such that it left the narrator wondering "what [he] would do if [his father] killed [his] mother."
The narrator further mentions "bitter savage arguments," presumably as frightening as the example above. All of this goes to show an element of conflict in his father's life.
This conflict stems from the father; He has a dream of escaping the working life and becoming educated. I know this in two ways.
First, his bedroom is full of books, which are a very potent symbol of knowledge, and thus education. Reading keeps the mind sharp, and if he is the kind of person who likes exercising his mind, there is no way he could be satisfied with the hard physical labor of working on a boat.
Second, the father is obviously not meant for this job. The salt water irritates his skin rather severely, and as the narrator describes it, "He burned and reburned over and over again and his lips cracked so that they bled when he smiled, and his arms broke out into oozing salt-water boils..." If he gets boils just from his job, it's obviously toxic to him. The boat is slowly killing him
This evidence is further validated by his habit of listening to the radio, smoking, and reading all night; This is a coping mechanism for the boat's awful restraint and effect on his life. The narrator explains his fathers endless appetite for books, "...at [many times throughout the night] one could sometimes hear... the rustling thud of a completed book being tossed into the corner heap." He is constantly trying to escape his livelihood, which one way or another he was forced into, and books are his escape.
Because of this failed dream he attempts, and ultimately succeeds, in giving his children the chance he never had. This is why he disapproves of his daughters playing on the wharf, because he never wants this life to be shown in a positive light. This is why he leaves his door open, so that his children will become curious and begin to read. This is why he argues with the narrator's mother, because she represents the tradition of maritime life that he cannot stand to continue living.
In this light, if the first areas of the story suddenly seem less serene. The seaweed in his hair, the smell of the salt and the chains on his wrists symbolize how the father's life and the life of the boat have become so intertwined. He is chained to the boat, and the sea is entangled in his hair.
And it is because of this revelation the father has that the family begins to be driven apart, with the narrator's sisters leaving, one by one, until only the narrator is left as a child. To allow his children to deviate the father had to distance himself from them, and undo the discipline that got him into the hole he is in now. This distance, however, has left the narrator, a now teenage boy, with little direction.
At this point in the story the father's hard working life catches up with him, with the narrator seeing him "grow old and ill all at once." This is a contrast compared to the slow movement the story moved at up until now. Within the first few pages the narrator sets the pace with "I say this now as if [it happened] all at once... But of course it was not that way at all." Here we see the plot begin to accelerate quite quickly, and the gradual changes we say then have become very sudden.
However, despite growing so distant, after seeing his dream of his only son become threatened by the tradition, when the narrator spent his first whole day on the boat instead of attending school, he immediately sprang to action, and knew he must press on. This shows that he cares about his children, and more about the vision of them having an easier life than he has, very much.
Up until now the father has spent most of his time facing challenges and fighting distant conflicts to keep his children safe. This shows not only his resolve, but how he has become less like a fisherman and more like a soldier in his own war. But when he and his son begin to work together, his role changes again, from soldier to partner. He and his son work alongside each other for the summer. There is an understanding between them that they are equals, which is shown by the conversation the father and son have after the son's first full day. "[The father] looked into my dark eyes with his of crystal blue and placed his hand upon my knee... 'I am not telling you to do anything, only asking you.'" A hand on another person's knee is a sign of understanding, something we as humans commonly do to show that they are treating another person as an equal. Here, the father begins to treat his son as an equal, and thus they become partners.
The son still begins to tie himself to the boat, however, saying he "would remain with [his father] as long as he lived." The father then replies "I hope you will remember what you've said," foreshadowing his own death, and showing the reader that his death was intentional. He began to see his son want to continue working on the boat, starting down the same hole he had.
That is why, on the last day they went to fish, and the father disappeared into the ocean, he jumped. He had to sacrifice himself to save his son, or else they would both be chained to the boat.
In the final paragraph, we see the father's body recovered, having been "wedged between two boulders at the base of the rock-strewn cliffs where he had been hurled and slammed so many many times... as he lay there with the brass chains on his wrists and the seaweed in his hair." The death of the father mimics his own life; He was thrown between the two boulders of tradition and dreams, until the struggle finally did him in. The reader can see too, that even in death, he still bears the chains on his wrists, and the sea remains entangled in his hair, providing no true escape.
In conclusion, the father in the story represents struggle. He spent his entire life tied to the sea, striving so hard to break his bonds. The bonds proved to strong, however, and he was forced to succumb to their hold, but not without allowing his children to escape. Like a war hero leaping on an explosive, he sacrifices himself to his war to save that which he loves most.
For this question I have chosen the father.
In the short story, "The Boat," we see the dynamic between the narrator and his father undergo a very large transformation, and the father is a very central character to the story.
In the beginning, the father has a paternal role. Through child's eyes the narrator only knows that his father is very hard-working, leaving early in the morning and returning happily with a hug, although weary. He has to support his family, and knows it, and despite his chaotic room, life has an order to it.
But as the narrator grows older, his father can no longer be simply "dear old dad," and must begin to teach his only son how to live and work on the boat. In the story the narrator describes learning "all about boat dimensions and engines... the difference between a stenciled name and a painted name," which is proof, if the narrator still remembers it now, that his father was a good teacher.
Then father begins to go into a decline. This first becomes evident when the narrator describes the first real argument between his father and mother. His mother said "Well, I hope you'll be satisfied when they come home knocked up and you'll have had your way." The narrator describes this as "the most savage thing [he'd] ever heard [her] say." His father then flashed her a look such that it left the narrator wondering "what [he] would do if [his father] killed [his] mother."
The narrator further mentions "bitter savage arguments," presumably as frightening as the example above. All of this goes to show an element of conflict in his father's life.
This conflict stems from the father; He has a dream of escaping the working life and becoming educated. I know this in two ways.
First, his bedroom is full of books, which are a very potent symbol of knowledge, and thus education. Reading keeps the mind sharp, and if he is the kind of person who likes exercising his mind, there is no way he could be satisfied with the hard physical labor of working on a boat.
Second, the father is obviously not meant for this job. The salt water irritates his skin rather severely, and as the narrator describes it, "He burned and reburned over and over again and his lips cracked so that they bled when he smiled, and his arms broke out into oozing salt-water boils..." If he gets boils just from his job, it's obviously toxic to him. The boat is slowly killing him
This evidence is further validated by his habit of listening to the radio, smoking, and reading all night; This is a coping mechanism for the boat's awful restraint and effect on his life. The narrator explains his fathers endless appetite for books, "...at [many times throughout the night] one could sometimes hear... the rustling thud of a completed book being tossed into the corner heap." He is constantly trying to escape his livelihood, which one way or another he was forced into, and books are his escape.
Because of this failed dream he attempts, and ultimately succeeds, in giving his children the chance he never had. This is why he disapproves of his daughters playing on the wharf, because he never wants this life to be shown in a positive light. This is why he leaves his door open, so that his children will become curious and begin to read. This is why he argues with the narrator's mother, because she represents the tradition of maritime life that he cannot stand to continue living.
In this light, if the first areas of the story suddenly seem less serene. The seaweed in his hair, the smell of the salt and the chains on his wrists symbolize how the father's life and the life of the boat have become so intertwined. He is chained to the boat, and the sea is entangled in his hair.
And it is because of this revelation the father has that the family begins to be driven apart, with the narrator's sisters leaving, one by one, until only the narrator is left as a child. To allow his children to deviate the father had to distance himself from them, and undo the discipline that got him into the hole he is in now. This distance, however, has left the narrator, a now teenage boy, with little direction.
At this point in the story the father's hard working life catches up with him, with the narrator seeing him "grow old and ill all at once." This is a contrast compared to the slow movement the story moved at up until now. Within the first few pages the narrator sets the pace with "I say this now as if [it happened] all at once... But of course it was not that way at all." Here we see the plot begin to accelerate quite quickly, and the gradual changes we say then have become very sudden.
However, despite growing so distant, after seeing his dream of his only son become threatened by the tradition, when the narrator spent his first whole day on the boat instead of attending school, he immediately sprang to action, and knew he must press on. This shows that he cares about his children, and more about the vision of them having an easier life than he has, very much.
Up until now the father has spent most of his time facing challenges and fighting distant conflicts to keep his children safe. This shows not only his resolve, but how he has become less like a fisherman and more like a soldier in his own war. But when he and his son begin to work together, his role changes again, from soldier to partner. He and his son work alongside each other for the summer. There is an understanding between them that they are equals, which is shown by the conversation the father and son have after the son's first full day. "[The father] looked into my dark eyes with his of crystal blue and placed his hand upon my knee... 'I am not telling you to do anything, only asking you.'" A hand on another person's knee is a sign of understanding, something we as humans commonly do to show that they are treating another person as an equal. Here, the father begins to treat his son as an equal, and thus they become partners.
The son still begins to tie himself to the boat, however, saying he "would remain with [his father] as long as he lived." The father then replies "I hope you will remember what you've said," foreshadowing his own death, and showing the reader that his death was intentional. He began to see his son want to continue working on the boat, starting down the same hole he had.
That is why, on the last day they went to fish, and the father disappeared into the ocean, he jumped. He had to sacrifice himself to save his son, or else they would both be chained to the boat.
In the final paragraph, we see the father's body recovered, having been "wedged between two boulders at the base of the rock-strewn cliffs where he had been hurled and slammed so many many times... as he lay there with the brass chains on his wrists and the seaweed in his hair." The death of the father mimics his own life; He was thrown between the two boulders of tradition and dreams, until the struggle finally did him in. The reader can see too, that even in death, he still bears the chains on his wrists, and the sea remains entangled in his hair, providing no true escape.
In conclusion, the father in the story represents struggle. He spent his entire life tied to the sea, striving so hard to break his bonds. The bonds proved to strong, however, and he was forced to succumb to their hold, but not without allowing his children to escape. Like a war hero leaping on an explosive, he sacrifices himself to his war to save that which he loves most.
