In this project, we are told to find quotes that would match the plot points of the story and have an explanation below. The pictures that we have taken represent the main plot point from the short story. The short story, “Father and Son,” by Bernard MacLaverty shows the problematic relationship that a father and son have. The father and son had many struggles since the mother has passed, and have not maintained a balanced relationship since. In the short story, we are able to see both perspectives from the father and the son, and understand how they feel towards one another. The son undergoes a conflict and gets shot and is killed. The father is finally able to hold his son in his arms, and that is where the reader is able figures out the real relationship between the father and the son.
Exposition
Quote: “I know that in a few minutes he will come in to look at me sleeping. He will want to check that I came home last night” (MacLaverty 1).
Explanation:
this is introducing the father and the son, and their relationship that they have with each other. It shows a lack of trust that the father has for his son. This presents the main topic that the story is based around.
Inciting Incident
Quote: “I love him so much it hurts but he won’t talk to me. He tells me nothing” (MacLaverty 1).
Explanation:
The father expresses the love he has for his son, but struggles to gain affection from him, due to the sons past which creates the reasoning behind the conflict of the story. The conflict is how the father can never succeed in creating a father-son bond.
Rising Action
Quote: “Let me put my arm around your shoulders and let me listen to what is making you thin. At the weekend I will talk to him” (MacLaverty 2).
Explanation:
the father is wanting to give his son attention and talk to him, but he struggles to do so. The father also is avoiding trying to talk to his son, and work things out between them, but fails to communicate with him.
Rising Action
Quote: “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).
Explanation:
In this part of the story, it is showing how the father is trying to figure out the reasons towards his son’s behaviors, and blames himself, as well as thinking of all the reasons towards these actions.
Rising Action
Quote: “I want to hear you laugh with me like you used to. I want to know what you think. I want to know why you do not eat more” (MacLaverty 2).
Explanation:
This part is showing how the father is coming to the realization that he doesn’t, and never will figure out who is son is. The father is starting to become more concerned than ever about his son’s well being.
Climax
Quote: “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” (MacLaverty 3).
Explanation:
The father hears a gunshot and runs towards the door without hesitation, he knows that something bad has happened. He sees his son, but the father does not want to believe that his son has been shot. This is the part of the story where the foreshadowing, and where all the conflicts in the story led to.
Falling Action
Quote: “My son is lying on the floor, his head on the bottom stair, his feet on the threshold” (MacLaverty 3).
This part is where the loose ends are tied up and that it has confirmed that the son was shot. It starts to create a conclusion towards the story from the climax, in which the readers get a sense of how the father will react towards this situation.
Denouement
Quote: “My son, let me put my arms around you” (MacLaverty 3).
Explanation:
As his son is lying on the ground, hole in his face from a bullet, the dad finally gets to put his arms around him. The only chance he has ever gotten in so long to give his son affection is the time where his son is no longer able to deny it.
