Symbolism In John Ceever's Reunion

Have you ever felt like something that was supposed to be the most wonderful thing, turns out to be a complete nightmare? In Reunion by John Ceever, a boy meets his father after a long time for lunch. Throughout the course of the book, the father throws around his wealth and ego, in order to impress his son. John Ceever uses symbolism, tone and revealing actions to show how the father’s actions and words resulted in ruining their relationship.

John Ceever uses symbolism to show how the father’s actions ruin their relationship. At the beginning, when Charlie meets his father, they are both very happy to see each other. On page 1, it shows this, “He put his arm around me, and I smelled my father the way my mother smells a rose.” This shows that …show more content…
The father’s tone says a lot about the kind of person he is. At the beginning, when Charlie first meets his father, his father comes off as a high-flying businessman, as he is exactly on time when they meet, and his secretary writes his mails for him. An example of his importance is on page 1, “I’d like to take you up to my club but its in the Sixties.” This sentence has a very snobbish tone and implies that he disapproves of the area he is in, he is much too high and mighty to eat there. He continues on to say, “I guess we’d better get something to eat around here.” This shows that the father thinks of that place as a last resort, he’ll only eat there if he has no other options. This shows the reader the father’s personality. You can also see that he is trying to impress Charlie. Another example of this snobbish tone is on page 2, “ ‘We’d like a little something in the way of a stirrup cup. Namely, two Bibson Geefeaters.’ ‘Two Bibson Geefeaters?’ the waiter asked, smiling. ‘You know damned well what I want,” my father said angrily. ‘I want two Beefeater Gibsons, and make it snappy.’ ” The father has an air of arrogance around him, with an angry tone, and even when he makes a mistake, he acts like he’s oh higher rank. This results them in getting kicked out of their 3rd restaurant, and Charlie still doesn’t get a chance in making a relationship with his …show more content…
On page 1, it says, “He then struck the edge of the empty glass with his knife and began shouting again.” When someone taps their cutlery to a glass, it signifies that they want to get everyone’s attention, and they want to address people. This action is usually done it quite high-end parties or weddings. When the father does it, it implies that he is very rich and mighty, he wants everyones attention to place his order. After doing this, he goes on to fight with the waiter which ends up in leaving from yet another restaurant. Another example of this is at the beginning on page 1, “ ‘Chop-chop.’ Then he clapped his hands.” This action is used for dogs or small children, when you want the to come to you. This shows that the father thinks of people around him as petty, like they’re small children and they don’t understand the words or actions of high class men like him. Another action which shows the father’s arrogance is on page 1, “We sat down, and my father hailed the waiter in a loud voice.” You normally hail down a taxi, and the fact that the father hailed a waiter, shows that he thinks of these people as a service, and they’re all here to service him and wait on him, like he’s some kind of superior being. All these actions result in moving from restaurant to restaurant. Charlie and his father never get to sit down and talk to each other because his father thought that he