Arm Wrestling With My Father Analysis

Shooting Dad, by Sarah Vowell, is a story about the author's relationship with her dad, herself, and guns. Not being a huge fan of guns, as much as her father is, she continues to live with her father in a "divided house,'' confirming that one of them is republican and another is democratic. Instead of the author starting off the story with " i am a gunsmith's daughter,'' she created a short explanation of both point of views, herself and her father, allowing the audience to have a better understanding of the situation. This , of course, is effective to the reader to capture a sense or feel into what the author is trying to express with statement as '' a home for the civil war'' or ''hunter's orange was never my color.''

Greg and myself have some key similarities in the relationships with our fathers. First off, we both have a dad that lives in the same establishment with us. Our dad’s also both want us to succeed in sports, school, and life. I can tell Greg’s dad wants him to do well in school because in line 4 of the text it says Greg’s dad was “lecturing endlessly about his poor efforts in math.” In lines 9-10 it says that after Greg asked his dad about playing with the Scorpions, an elite travel team from the New York area, his dad says “it depends on your next report card.” When Greg brings home a bad report card, his dad says in lines 17-19, “And you want to

“Shooting Dad” by Sarah Vowell tells the interesting story of a girl with views that oppose that of her father's. Sarah’s father, Pat, works as a gunsmith and is a massive gun enthusiast, while Sarah herself is more into music. Throughout this story, Sarah relates to the reader how passionate her and her dad are about their different hobbies and perspectives. With all of the tension in the house from the drastically different points of view, they must figure out how to coexist. Sarah and her father find their bond through the joys of cannons, which also leads Sarah to the conclusion that they are not as different as she once thought. This story goes to great lengths to show the reader that just because people have differences, does not mean that they cannot or do not have similarities as well.

Brad Manning’s “Arm Wrestling with My Father” he indicates that the physical contact between himself and his father is a representation of their relationship. When Manning is a boy his father, and he participates in arm wrestling regularly. Of course, Manning being a child loses but all he does is giggle. Manning’s relationship with his father as a boy is playful and fun. In his teenage years, he did not laugh around his father anymore. His relationship with his father is never emotional, like a bond a mother and a son has. The relationship is strictly physical. Mannings father helps him with lacrosse but never goes to any of his orchestra concerts or helps him with homework: “But at those times I could just feel how hard he was trying to

Several years later, after Manning has gone to college and his father has aged, Manning has an epiphany. “…but it all became clearer to me one day this past January” (158). This marks his total shift of perspective towards his competition with his father. However, one day on a trip home, his father challenges his to an arm wrestling match for old-time’s-sake. The rising action leads to Manning beating his father.

In these two stories, both authors depict the condition of his/her parent/child relationship in spatial terms and their perception of gradual changes by expressing the hardship of understanding affection from each of their father during their childhood. Although these two are connected, each author has different conditions in terms of relationship with their own father and ways of describing to depict their stories. After analyzing each story, I believe that Brad Manning’s “Arm Wrestling with My Father” wins over Sarah Vowell’s “Shooting Dad” in terms of sharing with the readers about his relationship with his father more vividly.

Sarah Vowell’s “Shooting Dad” discusses the relationship between a daughter and father. Engaged in a lifelong opposition to her father’s politics, interests, and his work, Vowell discovers just how much she actually has in common with him. Throughout her adolescent years, she was her father’s polar opposite. Her room was littered with musical instruments, albums, and Democratic campaign posters while her father’s, an avid gunsmith, was strewn with metal shavings and Republican party posters. Amongst all this conflict, Vowell found that they had more in common with each other than either of them realized. As she looks back on her childhood, Vowell explains that although it may take a while to see and understand others’ perspectives, once you

Although single parenthood is on the rise in homes today, children still often have a father role in their life. It does not matter who the part is filled by: a father, uncle, older brother, grandfather, etc...; in almost all cases, those relationships between the father (figure) and child have lasting impacts on the youth the rest of their lives. In “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World,” Jimmy Carter tells the audience no matter the situation with a father, hold onto every moment.

Alternative comparison that emphasizes the father’s physical massiveness strengthens Manning’s admiration and gratitude toward his father. Manning uses an alternative

The movie Dad is centered around a father and son pair, who are brought together and go on the journey of mending their dilapidated relationship. In addition to this struggle, there are several other dilemmas that both characters must face. These challenges can be identified using Erik Erikson’s eight crisis. As an elderly man, Jake lives every day relying on his wife, Betty. He is not happy with his current life and often gives up before even making an attempt. According to Erik Erikson, Jake suffers from being stuck within the autonomy vs shame and doubt phase, as well as, the integrity vs despair phase. Later on, Jake also encounters the crisis of identity vs role confusion. Jake’s son, John, is in a completely separate situation. As a successful, wealthy businessman, Jake is completely independent, however he struggles to maintain healthy relationships with his family. Throughout the movie, Jake must learn to give back to his parents, as well as, his own son, Billy and recognize what is truly important in life. In Dad, Jake must face the crises of Intimacy vs. Isolation, generativity vs stagnation, as well as, Integrity vs Despair. As both Jake and John are brought together they must resolve their personal dilemmas in order to live truly fulfilling lives.

Hugh Garner’s short story the father has the following significant themes: alcoholism, denial, ignorance, insecurity and neglect. Each theme is conveyed through the characters actions. Alcoholism is expressed through the numerous drinks John Purcell has before and during the banquet. The effects of alcohol are also conveyed through John Purcell’s inappropriate comments, behaviour and lack of self-control. For example the phrase about taking his son to a burlesque show and raising his son, Jonny Purcell’s hand into the air when he receives his lifesaving certificate and badge for hobby craft. Denial is expessed through the irony of John Purcell’s belief that he’s superior to the other fathers because they are too involved when Jonny wishes his

An ideal father should be someone who nurtures and lovingly cares for his offspring, and some kids are blessed by this opportunity growing up to spend time with their father, even if their parents are divorced. As the years go by our fathers grow older and we too grow old. We start to reminisce about the nostalgic times we had when we were young. In the poems “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, and “Tips From My Father” by Carol Ann Davis; the authors draw from different life events, in which each communicate a happy memory with their fathers to the audience, and conclude a common theme surrounding a bond with their fathers, which can be inferred through how the parents care about their kids and show affection to them by giving their

Both “Arm Wrestling with My Father” and “Shooting Dad” written by Brad Manning and Sarah Vowell, respectively, portrays a damaged and rough relationship that a son and/or daughter holds with his father. Although they both find themselves struggling, they are dealing with different things, Manning is dealing with a physical bounding, while Vowell finds herself handling a more emotional and communicative type of bonding. Eventually, both characters find themselves in a mature relationship over time. The characters had similarities and also differences with their respective father. Throughout the stories, both authors dig into the relationship between child and father and how it can be shaped and changed over time.

At first, I saw this as equality in the boy’s lives. Yet as I read on and listened to more of their stories I realized how different the situations were. The first difference I realized was the reason why each of the fathers weren’t present. As the other Wes states, “Your father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, my father wasn’t there because he chose not to be” (1). Though both boys grew up without fathers, how each boy’s family reacted made the huge difference. Wes’s older brother, Tony, appeared as a great role model. He was always encouraging his younger brother to continue on his education and avoid the path in life that he took. But as most say, actions speak louder than words. And with Tony being “a veteran of the drug game at eighteen”, he didn’t provide the best example for his little brother (57). On the other hand, the other Wes found his need for a male figure in his grandfather. What Wes didn’t realize was that he grandfather’s “strict” rules would ultimately pave the right path for

The fatherly characters are produced by two authors who had interesting relationships with their own fathers and who subsequently introduce their own opinions to the