A father’s job is to care for his children, to keep them safe from harm. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way as is made clear in two Jess Walter’s stories, “Please” and “We Live in Water” from a book of the same name We Live in Water. In “Please” the son in the story lives with his mom, Carla, and her druggie boyfriend, Jeff in an environment where drugs come first. Tommy, the absentee father, has little control regarding the safety of his child. In “We Live in Water”, it is the father Oren’s moral corruption that places his son Michael in harm’s way. While the each father’s story is different, their intentions are the same, to keep their son’s safe. Each story transmits their desperation and helplessness to the reader,
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One side the man as he appears to be based on his actions and who he is deep inside….a loving father. Oren drinks, gambles, cheats, and steals which all lead to trouble. His final transgression ends up with him meeting Bannen, the husband of the wife he was banging, and from whom he stole money at a bar is an attempt to “fix” the situation. Oren’s thoughts “No matter how you figured trouble, there was no doubt this time. He was in some shit” (Walter 18) clearly show that Oren understood the severity of his present situation. Oren ruminated on his way to meeting with his six year old son Michael in tow. Oren leaves Michael in the car. Upon entering the bar, his beating begins. When Oren sees an opportunity to flee, he runs, forgetting momentarily, in his panic to get away, that Michael is in the car. After finding a safe hiding place, Oren’s thoughts return to Michael. His thoughts, ricochet around, like a ball in a pinball machine, bouncing between a myriad of scenarios and “He couldn’t stop his thoughts” (Walter 31). Thoughts that lead him to wonder if “Maybe Bannen would take it out on the boy” (Walter 31). “He pictured Bannen grabbing his kid and felt something hot rise in his throat” (Walter 31) and that was the defining moment for this father. When the true picture of a kind and loving father emerges. Oren climbs out of the culvert having decided to go …show more content…
Oren’s captors agree to let him say goodbye to his son. It is in their final shared moments when Oren comprehends Michael’s question “do we live in water?” (Walter 18). He tell Michael “You can do whatever you want” (Walter 39). He is not only telling Michael that he can do whatever he wants, but Oren was telling Michael he could be everything Oren wasn’t. Then Oren writes a note to Michael’s mother in which he says “He’s a good boy. Tell him I said so” (Walter 22). Those six words were a gift to Michael. This makes it apparent that Oren wants his is son to know he was proud of who he was which was all that Oren had left to give. In his final act to protect Michael, he asks his friend for a favor. “Listen to me, Oren said, his voice cracking. I’m goin’ on a boat. If anyone asks. I got a boat in Seattle, Okay?” (Walter 39). One final desperate selfless act by a father to protect his child from knowing how his fateful choices lead to his demise. It is through his final bits of dialogue we see the true Oren. A with caring and kind heart. A man who cares about the safety and happiness of his son, regardless of what his action belie, his son mattered and that he loved him. In the final moments of Oren’s life you feel his desperation to shield his son and a connection is forged as the loving father
One side the man as he appears to be based on his actions and who he is deep inside….a loving father. Oren drinks, gambles, cheats, and steals which all lead to trouble. His final transgression ends up with him meeting Bannen, the husband of the wife he was banging, and from whom he stole money at a bar is an attempt to “fix” the situation. Oren’s thoughts “No matter how you figured trouble, there was no doubt this time. He was in some shit” (Walter 18) clearly show that Oren understood the severity of his present situation. Oren ruminated on his way to meeting with his six year old son Michael in tow. Oren leaves Michael in the car. Upon entering the bar, his beating begins. When Oren sees an opportunity to flee, he runs, forgetting momentarily, in his panic to get away, that Michael is in the car. After finding a safe hiding place, Oren’s thoughts return to Michael. His thoughts, ricochet around, like a ball in a pinball machine, bouncing between a myriad of scenarios and “He couldn’t stop his thoughts” (Walter 31). Thoughts that lead him to wonder if “Maybe Bannen would take it out on the boy” (Walter 31). “He pictured Bannen grabbing his kid and felt something hot rise in his throat” (Walter 31) and that was the defining moment for this father. When the true picture of a kind and loving father emerges. Oren climbs out of the culvert having decided to go …show more content…
Oren’s captors agree to let him say goodbye to his son. It is in their final shared moments when Oren comprehends Michael’s question “do we live in water?” (Walter 18). He tell Michael “You can do whatever you want” (Walter 39). He is not only telling Michael that he can do whatever he wants, but Oren was telling Michael he could be everything Oren wasn’t. Then Oren writes a note to Michael’s mother in which he says “He’s a good boy. Tell him I said so” (Walter 22). Those six words were a gift to Michael. This makes it apparent that Oren wants his is son to know he was proud of who he was which was all that Oren had left to give. In his final act to protect Michael, he asks his friend for a favor. “Listen to me, Oren said, his voice cracking. I’m goin’ on a boat. If anyone asks. I got a boat in Seattle, Okay?” (Walter 39). One final desperate selfless act by a father to protect his child from knowing how his fateful choices lead to his demise. It is through his final bits of dialogue we see the true Oren. A with caring and kind heart. A man who cares about the safety and happiness of his son, regardless of what his action belie, his son mattered and that he loved him. In the final moments of Oren’s life you feel his desperation to shield his son and a connection is forged as the loving father