son feels unloved and pushes his father away. He subconsciously makes a barrier
between him and his father like the newspaper that he holds in between them when
the father tries to make conversation:
“not this again”
This could mean that the son does not want his father to attempt to make
conversation with him again or that he doesn’t want to talk to his father because of
the things that the son does outside of the house and does not want his father to find
out about what he is doing. The lack of communication between the father and son makes them seem realistic as this could be any father and son.
Another theme which makes the characters seem realistic is family relationships. The father and son’s thoughts show that they love each other but they do not express their feelings to one another. The father wants to talk but does not know how approach his son:
“I must speak with him tonight at tea”
Then he says:
“at the weekend I will speak to him”
This shows that the father does not know when it will be the right time to speak to his son. He does love his son but does not know how to tell him this. He does want to talk with his son but wants to wait until the time is right, but he never knows when the time is right. This makes the characters seem realistic as this would happen between every late teenage boy and his father.
McLaverty also makes the characters seem realistic through setting. This short story is set in Belfast in the recent past. This city lacked communication but made up for it in violence. This is a representation of the father and son’s house. Their house is never properly described but what is said of the house suggests that it is uncomfortable, “lino” suggests that even the floor is uncomfortable. We know more about how the house sounds rather than what it looks like:
“snap of a switch”
This suggests it is so quiet in their house that you can even hear the switch clicking on the kettle. Setting makes the characters seem realistic as this is how real characters would have acted in Belfast in the recent past.
The author also makes the characters seem realistic through narrative stance. In this story we are told what the characters actually feel which is a contrast to what they say to each other. The author sometimes does not make it clear which character is talking:
“you should be in your bed, a man of your age”
If this was the son talking, this would show that he wants his father to go to bed so that they do not have to talk. If this was the father talking, it would show that he is worried about his son and wants him to get some sleep as he is not sleeping. Narrative stance makes the characters seem more realistic.
Another way the author makes the characters seem realistic is through characterisation. The father and son have a poor relationship. The father feels his son has let him down and is always worried about him, but he does love him. The father describes his son as :
“like a dog”
A dog relies on his owner for everything which is a contrast in the father son relationship, as the son feels he does not need his father for anything. The father wants to strengthen their relationship by talking to his son, but the son deliberately pushes him even further away from him. The son feels the father has become more like his mother as his mother passed away, he also feels he should become more a of a man. This makes the characters seem more realistic.
When the son does talk with his dad he uses a dismissive tone in his short answers:
“Well I’m not dead.”
This shows that he does not want to talk with his father and that he does not want to tell his father about what has been happening in his life recently. His father constantly worries about him, which is why he thinks his father is turning into a woman. His father thinks his son should get a haircut which is not normal for a father to say to his son, this is another reason he feels like is taking his mothers place. This makes the characters seem realistic as the son is keeping secrets from his father, which happens in almost every parent child relationship.
At the end of the story the son gets shot at the front door. The father does not believe his son is dead, so talks to him, he believes this is his last chance to express his feelings for his son. Now his son can no longer push him any further away:
“are you hurt?”
This shows that the father does not want to believe that his son is dead, but only hurt, as his son is the only person that the father has got left. This makes the characters seem realistic as many people try not believe that bad things like this have happened.
Overall, “Father and son” by Bernard McLaverty had a main element which is to make the characters seem realistic. He achieves this through successful use of plot structure, theme, setting, narrative stance and characterisation.
