In the short story, “Father and Son” by Bernard MacLaverty, there are a number of key moments that can be connected to form the traditional plot point diagram. My class was assigned to find eight different quotes in the short story, relate them to the crucial moments that occur throughout it, and to incorporate pictures and an explanation on how the selected quotes connect to these moments. The short story, “Father and son,” takes place in 1900s Ireland during the rise of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The story is about a father, son, and their damaged relationship due to a variety of their internal problems. The father is a paranoid man, suffering from the loss of his wife, and is overprotective of his son, constantly asking him questions on where he has gone instead of comforting him and trying to rebuild their relationship. Every day the reader knows that he checks on his son in the mornings to see if he returned home, and he listens to the radio, scared to hear about his son’s death. He also looks out of the window of his house to see who is approaching, and sleeps with a hatchet beside his bed, paranoid that someone will attack him in his sleep. The son, who despises his father, also clearly affected by his mother’s death, goes out at night for unknown reasons, and has been in near death experiences involving drugs. He constantly avoids conversation with his father, is indifferent about dying, is involved with and influenced by bad people, and is unfairly criticizing his father who is trying to make sure that they are both safe. This assignment will point out the key moments in this short story and provide analysis on what exactly is happening during these events.
1) Exposition
Quote: “Because I do not sleep well I hear my father rising to go to work” (MacLaverty 165).
Explanation:
The reader is told that there is a son and father living together and learns that the son does not sleep, indicating that something is bothering him or keeping him from going to sleep. This quote represents the exposition because the reader finds out who the main characters are and and gets a hint of a potential conflict in the story.
2) Initiating Incident
Quote: “When he sees me he turns away, a heave of bedclothes in his wake” (MacLaverty 165).
Explanation:
The reader quickly learns that the son and father do not have a good relationship, hence the son turning away when his father checks on him. This quote represents the initiating incident because the reader finds out what the conflict is in the story- the son and father’s relationship.
3) Rising Action
Quote: “’What do you be doing out to this time?’ ‘Not again.’ ‘Answer me’” (MacLaverty 166).
Explanation:
The reader gets confirmation about the son and father’s damaged relationship. The reader sees that the father is very protective of his son and the tension in their relationship is rising. This tells us that their conflict has been going on for a while and has not been resolved. This is the first rising action because this is the first major example that the reader comes across where tension builds.
4) Rising Action
Quote: “Then on the radio, I hear he is dead. They give out his description… I cry. But he comes home for tea”(MacLaverty 167).
Explanation:
The reader gets confirmation that the father is very paranoid and imagines that his son may be dead somewhere. The father clearly cares a lot about his son and this is clearly foreshadows something bad to come in the future. This is another example of a rising action because more tension has been built up and the father is afraid that his son may be in danger.
5) Rising Action
Quote: “The door swings open and he pushes a hand-gun beneath the pillow” (MacLaverty 169).
Explanation:
The father sees his son push a handgun under his pillow, after walking into his room, which indicates that his son is associating himself with some bad people. The audience also learns that perhaps the reason that his son may not have been sleeping well (indicated by the first quote), was that he is in involved with some dangerous people.
6) Climax
Quote: “There is a bang… My son is lying on the floor, his head on the bottom stair, his feet on the threshold” (MacLaverty 169)
Explanation:
Some people have entered their house, and his son has been shot and killed by who his father thought was his “friend.” This represents the climax because it is the end of the build-up of tension and it confirms the earlier foreshadowing when the father believed that his son died, based on the broadcast’s description of who he believed to be his son.
7) Falling Action
Quote: “The news has come to my door. The house is open to the night. There is no one else.” (MacLaverty 169)
Explanation:
Someone has killed the father’s son and quickly left the door open, leaving him to stumble upon his dead son. This is the falling action because following the son’s death, the father realizes what has happened- his worst fear: his son’s death. This indicates that the short story is ending, by the conclusion of his son’s murder.
8) Denouement
Quote: I take my son’s limp head in my hands and see a hole in his nose that should not be there… My son, let me put my arms around you” (MacLaverty 169)
Explanation:
Exactly what the father had been afraid of occurring, happened. His son died. He acknowledges his son’s death and puts his arm around him. This is the denouement because his father accepts his son’s death, then embraces him in an act of closure, concluding the story.