In “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, the growth of an adolescent mind to a more sophisticated and worldly point of view is explored through the use of tactile and visual imagery. The darkness and solitude that surrounds the relationship of the young speaker and his father is transformed through growth and maturity as evidence of their beginning to recognize one another’s flaws and shortcomings is provided. Consequently, appreciation and gratitude are gradually expressed, though it is too late to take back the way they treated one another.
The narrator's journey from angered child to a remorseful adult is expressed through the many uses of visual imagery. The darkness that encompasses the home of the speaker is a direct variation …show more content…
The selflessness of the father can be observed by his physical appearance. The cold controller's weekend labor strained his “cracked hands” (3) that worked in the winter weather trying to accommodate his family. The man looking back in time, notices he had a parent who was working and he believed that his father was choosing work over loving him; that his own parent would work strenuous hours instead of spending time with him, as all of the other dads did with their sons, hurt him. Therefore, it is quite apparent that their relationship is strained at this point, but it is hard to find fault with just one man in the poem. The austere relationship between them is not only caused by the father, but also the innocent son being kept blind from other characters of love. The son fears “the chronic angers of [his] house” (9) like they are individuals in his home. Through this line, the speaker leads us to accept that he believed his was the only family with problems. With age, the narrator comes to the realization that not everyone or every home is a happy
The narrator's journey from angered child to a remorseful adult is expressed through the many uses of visual imagery. The darkness that encompasses the home of the speaker is a direct variation …show more content…
The selflessness of the father can be observed by his physical appearance. The cold controller's weekend labor strained his “cracked hands” (3) that worked in the winter weather trying to accommodate his family. The man looking back in time, notices he had a parent who was working and he believed that his father was choosing work over loving him; that his own parent would work strenuous hours instead of spending time with him, as all of the other dads did with their sons, hurt him. Therefore, it is quite apparent that their relationship is strained at this point, but it is hard to find fault with just one man in the poem. The austere relationship between them is not only caused by the father, but also the innocent son being kept blind from other characters of love. The son fears “the chronic angers of [his] house” (9) like they are individuals in his home. Through this line, the speaker leads us to accept that he believed his was the only family with problems. With age, the narrator comes to the realization that not everyone or every home is a happy