Near the climax of the story, Frank and Graham are out having dinner together. Graham has already put up with several embarrassing instances and Frank is in denial that his son is frustrated, annoyed, or angry with him. On page 11, we hear Frank’s interior monologue, “Graham disagrees with me when I try to send back a second bottle of wine, apparently under the impression that one ought to accept spoiled goods in order not to hurt anybody’s feelings. This strikes me as maudlin but I let it go for the sake of harmony. Something has changed in him. Appetizers take a startling nineteen minutes to appear.” Haslett has framed Frank’s anxiety and denial well. He starts off blaming his son for his absurd behavior, tells us what he is actually concerned about— his son’s change— and then ends the thought with a petty, insignificant note about the appetizers. Immediately after this, starting a new paragraph, instead of mentioning the change seen in his son like he did for readers, Frank says, “‘You should start thinking about quitting your job.’ I say ‘I’ve decided I’m not going to stay on the sidelines with
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Frank’s desire to escape the current conflict is clear. His passion about the bicycle has grown, due to the rapid thought that has now gone into the idea. And this time, he includes his son directly, hoping this could rope Graham in and invest him too. Together they can finally forget about the problems in their relationship. They can have a future that does not look like the one ahead of them— the absence of a relationship looming— but one with success, with money, and with each other. They couldn’t have this, in Frank’s mind, without the bike. Although readers are now used to the occurrence of the bicycle, the third example involves Frank on a verge of a breakdown. He does not just bring the bicycle into conversation, an interjection that he hopes will change the direction of the dialogue, he stands up in the middle of
Frank’s desire to escape the current conflict is clear. His passion about the bicycle has grown, due to the rapid thought that has now gone into the idea. And this time, he includes his son directly, hoping this could rope Graham in and invest him too. Together they can finally forget about the problems in their relationship. They can have a future that does not look like the one ahead of them— the absence of a relationship looming— but one with success, with money, and with each other. They couldn’t have this, in Frank’s mind, without the bike. Although readers are now used to the occurrence of the bicycle, the third example involves Frank on a verge of a breakdown. He does not just bring the bicycle into conversation, an interjection that he hopes will change the direction of the dialogue, he stands up in the middle of