The fact that the father is dedicated to his work was not necessarily a good thing, because he would spend all of his spare time doing it, and would then never spend any time with his family. This is shown by Stallworthy beginning this poem with the father holding a “pencil nodding stiffly in the hand”, and ending it with “The pencil drops”. By doing that, he gave us the impression that as long as his father is in the house, he is with a pencil and working, and it is only dropped when he wants to go out. This commitment his father had to his work seemed to distance them from each other, and so not have a very good father-son relationship.
The writer is proud of his dad for his achievements, which are helping other people and saving lives, where he performed up to thirteen difficult surgeries a day, “thirteen times between breakfast and supper led a scalpel an intricate dance.” However, he seems to be forgetting his family, which angers Stallworthy, and also makes him wish that he was closer to his father.
Personification is used quite a few times in this poem, for example, “The phone has sobbed itself to sleep”, and then “A spasm shakes the phone at this elbow”. This creates the picture of the phone first going to sleep, and then suddenly wakes up with a loud ring.
There are also many comparisons in the poem, firstly, the comparison of the hands, physically, and otherwise. The near the end of the poem, he says that “Down the lancet margin his hand moves rapidly as mine moves slow.” This shows that he knows he is not as good as his father, and also that his father is fully concentrating on his lancet, a lot more than he needs to be.
“I have watched the other save no one, serve no one, dance with this pencil.” Here, the writer talks about his dad being a life-saver, and that he can only be good for one thing, which is writing poetry. He thinks that he can never be like his dad, saving lives, and helping people. Stallworthy used the metaphor “the other end of the house” to show us the distance between the both of them, both physically, and emotionally.
In conclusion, the writer has created an image of two characters, one trying to reach out and become a part of the other’s life, but finds that he is being blocked out, and replaced by a load of work. This leaves the person feeling little, and like they are not good enough, and that is a feeling that many people can, to some extent, relate to.