Prose Passage #2

Thesis: The young man and his father share a complex relationship because although the boy begins to hesitantly assert his independence, the father selflessly supports this growth, arousing sentiments of guilt and sympathy in his son.

     The young man is hesitant to break tradition and go fishing without his father because the son fears his father's disappointment. Every year for the past fifteen years, the father and son have shared the tradition of camping and fishing. Much like the routine and upkeep of their camping adventures, the father always made sure his fishing rod was in pristine condition: "The man in Colorado Springs carefully scraped the varnish off the rod and rewound it and revarnished it and it came back glistening new each year" (49-52). The excessive use of 'it' towards the end of the quote begins to blur the lines between the camping trip and the rod. In the following sentence the son mentions, "There was nothing his father treasured more" (52-53). The ambiguity of the word choice illustrates the lack of clear communication between the father and the son. The son recognizes the importance of the rod and trip to his father, but neither of them expressly state the impact of the son's assertion for independence. Although there is a deep love and understanding between the father and son, their ambiguous and indirect style of communication complicates their relationship.