This photo plot-point compilation is being done for the story, “Father and Son” by Bernard MacLaverty. A Photo plot-point compilation is using a photo to discribe a piece of a plotpoint captioned with a quote. After that, there is around 3-4 sentences explaining what is happening in this photo and the quote.

 

1)  Exposition

“This is my son who let me down. I love him so much it hurts but he won’t talk to me. He tells me nothing” (MacLaverty 1)

This small family of just a father and son is not going too well. Now that the son is now grown up, he chooses to ignore his father because he thinks his father worries to much about him. The son won’t talk to his father, so the father feels let down. He is unaware of what his son has been doing. This describes both of the only characters in this story and their relationship together.

 

2)  Rising Action

“My son is breaking my heart. It is already broken. Is it my fault there is no woman in the house. Is it my fault a good woman should die?” (MacLaverty 2)

At this point of the story the family is in a much worse state than it originally was. The mother has died and both of the characters are broken by it. They are both overwhelmed by the pain and their life is in shambles. The father is terrified because he feels like he’s losing his son.

 

3)  Rising Action

“Everyday you think I’m dead. You live in fear. Of your own death. Peeping behind the curtains, the radio always loud enough to drown any noise that might frighten you” (MacLaverty 4)

The son is angry because the father’s worry is overwhelming him. He feels like he has no space to feel his own grief. At this point of the story, a lot of questions have not been answered. The reader does not know what the son has been up to.

 

4)  Rising Action

“My son, he is full of hatred. For me, for everything. He spits when he speaks. When he shouts his voice breaks high and he is a woman” (MacLaverty 4)

At this point of the story, the son and father’s relationship is in a much worse state than before. Not only is the son ignoring his father but now wants nothing to do with his father. This rises the action because it will set up how the story will end.

 

5)  Rising Action

“The door swings open and he pushes a hand-gun beneath the pillow. Seen long enough, black and squat, dull like a garden slug. He sits, my son, his hands idling empty, staring hatred” (MacLaverty 5)

At this point, the action rises dramatically. The son has a gun in his bed and has been keeping this a secret from his father. The reader now knows that the son is once again up to no good, and is in danger.

 

6)  Climax

“There is a bang. A dish-cloth drops from my hand and I run to the kitchen door. Not believing, I look into the hallway. There is a strange smell. My son is lying on the floor” (MacLaverty 5)

This image was the biggest plot twist in the story. Not only does the son have a gun but now he has been shot, by someone else, in his own house. The father finds the son lying on the floor in disbelief. He worst fear is becoming a reality.

 

7)  Falling Action

“Are you hurt? Blood is spilling out of his nose. They have punched you and you are not badly hurt. Your nose is bleeding. Something cold at the back of your neck” (MacLaverty 5)

The scary part about this plot point is that the father is in denial that his son is dying. He does not want to believe that his son is truly hurt. In that moment, he can’t face the reality that his son was murdered in his own house.

 

8)  Denouement

“I take my sons limp head in my hands and see a hole in his nose that should not be there. At the base of his nostril. My son, let me put my arms around you” (MacLaverty 5)

In this photo representing the end of the story, the father understands that his son was shot in the face. His worst fear is realized. He begins to pray for his son and puts his arms around him. That is how this story ends.