That tension is established from the outset in his choice of narrative voice. The reader is allowed to read the thoughts of the characters. This has two effects. Firstly we get to know how they feel about one another and the father feels ‘disappointed’ by his son, while the son sees his father as ‘weak’ and like ‘a woman’. Secondly it is an effective way to emphasise their inability to communicate. This inability to communicate creates frustration in the reader for we realise that they do of course love and care for one another. As the father ‘climbs the stairs’ in his struggle to speak to and be with his son, the son hears him and knowing that his father will be worried that he is not sleeping we read his thoughts; ‘I will sleep for him’. This conveys an affection that is not evident in his words and actions. His dialogue is almost violent in that he swears repeatedly at his father. He holds a newspaper up in front of his face in a symbolic act of rejection that also represents the physical barrier and lack of communication between them.
Maclaverty continues to build the feeling of violence by revealing that the father keeps ‘an axe’ and the son ‘sleeps with a gun under his pillow’. These weapons symbolise their feelings of fear as well as building towards the violent death of the son at the end.
The violence on the streets repeatedly threatens to spill into their home. It is present on the radio and television and the father thinks ‘my son is dead’ as he listens to news of a murder and recognises ‘his description’. However the shock of this news is relieved quickly by the son’s arrival home. However this incident hints again at the fate of the son – the reader fears for him just as the father does. MacLaverty achieves this by repeatedly referring to the door – the symbolic barrier between the safety of home and the violence outside. He repeatedly ‘hears’ his son talking, but this only adds to the frustration that he is not acting – not doing anything to save or protect his son for he never goes to the door to ask what is going on. The only time he does go to the door is after his son has been shot and ironically it is only at this stage that he actually ‘cradles’ his son and tells him he ‘loves’ him – when it is too late.
It is not only violence that underpins the short story. There is a sense of sadness running throughout the story too. We are told that the mother/wife is dead and the author repeatedly refers to their grief as feelings of emptiness. The father carries ‘an empty lunchbox’ – a symbol of his feelings of emptiness and helplessness. Neither can sleep and the father tells the son that he ‘has to eat’ – he too has a void in his life. MacLaverty does not allow his reader to escape the feeling that the violence outside will enter their home. The son is ‘always out’ and once again we do not know where, which adds to our suspicions that he is involved in some kind of trouble. He tends to be out much of the night and this too brings a sense of darkness to the plot.
As the story reaches a climax we see the father’s struggle to reach his son and save him intensify. This is symbolised by a return to the stairs, but this time he is ‘mounting’ them as events escalate towards the climax. His weakness increases and it is poignant that he is acting out the role of ‘the woman’ that his son accuses him of – he is doing the dishes when he hears ‘voices at the door’ once again. By not giving the voices names MacLaverty adds to the sense of mystery and mischief. By simply hearing he emphasises the father’s inaction. His description of the shooting is understated in a way that is very effective in maximising the drama and tension of the violent scene. At first he thinks his son has been ‘punched’ and that he will be okay. This delays the truth for the reader and heightens the tension, for we had suspected the worst before the father did. As he lies dead his body is across the threshold of the door in a final symbolic device – ‘the news has come’ to the father’s ‘door’ – it has entered the home through the open door and his son’s dead body; spanning both spaces.
Ultimately the violence on the streets of Northern Ireland has entered the home of the ‘Father and Son’. The fears that have been building for the father and the reader are realised as he is brutally murdered on his own doorstep. The reader is left with a sense of frustration and sadness at their inability to communicate. By allowing us inside their heads to read their thoughts MacLaverty has increased our sympathies for both characters. Their love for one another was only revealed in small ways through their thoughts in a way that contrasted with their harsh dialogue. We are left wondering whether the son might have been saved had they only been able to communicate their feelings of love and grief more easily to one another.
