Analyse af 'Father Of The Year' af Esther Williams

In our world and society, there is a whole lot of different people. A whole lot of different people that fits into different kinds of families. It might be hard to define which kind of family you are a part of, and of course what kind of family member you are towards the other members. And when it comes to another important thing in life called “Work”, which one will be the most important one to you? And will you be able to separate those two parts in a proper way?

The short story “Father Of The Year” (2012) by Esther Williams, takes the reader into a real-life episode that makes you ask yourself the same kind of questions. In the story we meet the family dad Dan and his wife Jemma, who are on a trip to Los Angeles with their three children: Grace, Ben and Honey. The primary purpose of the journey is for Dan to get a new job. But just as things are starting to progress, some things might be even more important than family.

The short story opens in medias res. The writer captures the readers’ interest by describing the opening scene deeply in details. And even though it is only the parents watching the rain, it is still very catchy and interesting. The events throughout the story is generally placed in chronological order except for a few flashbacks that sometimes appear. Small hints of what might happen are occurring some places in the text. An example could be when Jemma does not look at Dan so she avoids getting in an argument. “Jemma didn’t meet his eye. She didn’t want an argument and they both knew she’d waver if she saw the fury in his face” (s8 | l20-22). The ending of the story leads the reader back to the question about Dan and his family. The ending is kind of open because it’s hard to tell if Dan is embarrassed by his family or not. He acts a bit strange and secretive against his family, which makes the reader think. At the same time this makes it a perfect ending of the red thread through the story. The suit and the running children are the perfect contradictions and symbols of his work and his family.