Walker begins the story by giving a brief overview of his personal life, and explores the reasons that made him change his mind from writing about his own life and decides to write about his blind father. He then introduces his father and how he lost his sight at the age of 12 years while climbing the stairs of Chicago brownstone. The author utilizes series of flashbacks to give an account of his father’s life from childhood to present. In the end, however, the writer realizes that he has focused too much on “the mechanics of blindness” and not “the mechanics of being.” And thus, he admits that he got all his accounts wrong. The story ends with the father’s death and funeral. As Walker listens to the eulogy read by the priest, his flashbacks
