My Father's Life

I identify with the distance felt between father and child. Like Carver's father, my own father has worked hard all of his life and unfortunately this has taken away from time spent with me. The disconnection between father and son was conveyed through the tone of the piece. The author used such a dry, factual tone. It was almost as if he fully accepted the relationship he had with his father, imperfections and all. It was what it was. I found it particularly powerful when he wrote a poem about father after his father's death. This was the first point in the essay in which he exposes his perception of his father. I feel that the theme of this piece is unconditional love. Although he didn't always respect his father and his father's choices, Carver still loved and cared for him. I believe Carver wrote this piece to sort out his feelings about his father and get down on paper his their relationship. He wrote this to remember and understand.