Brad Manning's Essay Arm Wrestling With My Father

Brad Manning’s essay, “Arm Wrestling with My Father,” gives details and insight into Manning’s complex relationship with his father, and forces the reader to relate it to their own experiences. The essay begins with Manning and his father, hands locked together, in the middle of an intense arm wrestling match. However, even though Manning fought to defeat his father in the battle, he was easily overpowered by him and his hand was forced to the carpet. Upset over his loss, Manning was, “Too bitter to smile,” (Manning 138), while his father simply laughs at him and smiles. Throughout his essay, Manning uses arm wrestling matches between him and his father to portray the relationship that he shared with his father. His relationship is described as being much more physical rather than verbal, as Manning and his father often communicated with each other through physical actions rather than words. The short bouts of arm wrestling between Manning and his father are also used to help show how their relationship evolved as they both grew older. When Manning was a child, he enjoyed facing his …show more content…
Unlike Manning, my father and I always shared a more verbal rather than physical bond, preferring to speak through words rather than actions. The way that Manning’s relationship with his father evolved as he grew older was similar to my own, starting with looking up to him and ending on equal ground. In the end, however, Manning’s essay made me very aware of my father’s mortality, but it also helped me understand and deal with it. While my relationship with my father has been changing and evolving for my entire life, I realize now that one day it will come to an end, but that does not mean that our relationship was