“my father’s embarrassed young man’s face.”
Raymond
Carver observes a picture of his father when he was twenty-two years old. Most
people would expect twenty-two year old men to be very proud to the point of
arrogance. However, Carver’s father is more of the reserved type. Those who are
shy, normally turn away from the camera or become embarrassed easily, just as
Carver’s father. His father might want to appear manlier or proud which may
indicate the embarrassed look upon his face.
“Father, I love you/ yet how can I say thank you”
The
narrator loves his father for who he was then and who he is now. He does not
want a manly man or a resourceful man, but rather a man who is there. Clearly,
this father has been present throughout the son’s life or he would not have so
much love and respect for him. This father raised his son well and this son is
proud, not in a cocky way but rather a selfless, educated way. He is proud of
his father and who he has become as a man. However, following in his father’s
footsteps he unable to stand proud and express his appreciation and love
towards his father.
“But the eyes give him away”
One can
tell a lot by a person’s eyes. The eyes can always tell us the emotion of a
person. The narrator’s father’s eyes tell the son how delicate of a person his
father was at twenty-two. He may have wanted to act tough, but by looking into
his eyes one is able to look into his soul. Deep down his father was a timid
young man unsure of himself and unsure of his future. These feelings portrayed
though his eyes, letting the son know that it is okay for him too to be unsure
and shy.
dank- unpleasantly damp and chilly (“Photograph of My Father
in His Twenty-Second Year”, 1)
sheepish- embarrassed or timid
meek
or stupid (“Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year”, 1)
limply- lacking in stiffness or firmness
unsteady,
lacking rigidity (“Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year”, 1)
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