Father Son Relationship In The Runaway Son

A father son relationship is very intriguing. A father influences their own son through there on actions, words, and habits. Little boys will always look up to their dad. A boy will always want to be “just like dad”. In Brent Staples, “The Runaway Son” and Raymond Carvers, “My Father’s Life” the father son relationship plays a huge role. In both of these short stories there are good and bad lessons taught and learned. In both of these shorts stories there are many good lessons taken away from fathers even if it is not directly from the father. In “The Runaway Son”, Staples learns many valuable lessons. Coming from the lack of money that his father provided for the family Staples has to put the family on his back. Even though it may not have been the morally right thing to do …show more content…
In Staples, “The Runaway Son” and Carver’s, “My Fathers Life” both of the dads are alcoholics. The sons watch as alcohol rips their families apart. In “The Runaway Son” Staples watches as the alcohol pushes his family deeper and deeper into debt, “My father was drinking more than ever. Debt mounted in the customary pattern”(Staples 365). This debt led to Staples stealing from local stores and tricking the owners into giving him coal and food. In “My Fathers Life” Carver as watches as alcohol tears his family apart, “I can recall what happened one night when my dad came home late to find that my mother had locked all the doors on him from the inside. He was drunk, and we could feel the house shudder as he rattled the door”(Carver 368). Carver’s fathers alcohol problem leads to another bad choice that Carver can learn from. Carver’s father cheats on his wife, “One time she found someone else;s tube of lipstick on the floorboard, along with a lacy handkerchief”(368 Carver). Carver learned to respect women from his fathers bad choices. The good and the bad both affected Staples and Carver’s lives in a positive