This piece of literature by Richard Ford places the reader in the memories of Jackie, our narrator, as they experience the breaking up of their family throughout the duration of the story. The richness of the descriptions the author offers to us provide a very accurate representation of how we remember old experiences, with some details being particularly prevalent while the rest of the scene is more vague, or lacks an understanding that the narrator has developed since the event occured. The shallow perspective the author uses in this story allows us to experience the events that are being relayed to us by Jackie in a very immediate fashion, as close to the way Jackie would have experienced these memories as possible. The author provides very useful insight into what is actually happening in this story by posing questions the narrator wishes they would have asked or actions they would have done if given the opportunity to try again. A common theme throughout this narrative is a lack of understanding, or the true meaning behind people’s outward appearance or actions. The narrator describes Woody as a young man, who appears to be wealthy and is not the farm type. But he does not make the connection between Woody and his mother, and in his innocent understanding of the situation does not fully grasp how this predicament affects the rest of his life. Jackie realizes now as an adult that there are certain questions he wished he would have asked his mother, and things he would have rather done. But he could not have known any of those things at the time this story came into being.
Innocence is another theme the author of this story draws upon very efficiently. The youth of Jackie influenced largely how he experienced the separation of his parents; had he been older, maybe he would have behaved differently. However, his innocence and youthfulness prevents the true nature of Woody’s appearance at his home from being known to him until later in life. Being young is not always a disadvantage, but this piece is relatable for anyone that reads it, as we all have had experiences that make no sense to us until we are older. The vagueness of youth is both a blessing and a curse, and if Jackie had known more about was what really going on perhaps it would have been an even more traumatic experience for him. I thought the title was particularly ironic, because although the location where this story takes place is in Great Falls, this story is also about the fall of Jackie’s family and the beginning of a new chapter in his life because of that massive change, and the falling out between his parents.
“The shallow perspective the author uses in this story…” I’m interested in what you mean by this, Hannah. And the tension between innocence and experience, uncertainty and certainty, hope and despair — these occur in so many of the stories in this collection.
What you said about innocence being a large theme in this story was really similar to my original thoughts about the story whenever I first read it. I fully agree with you about the point you had about his youth and about how if he had he been older that this would have been even more traumatic due to the severity of it all too. Personally, I think that it’s about loss, but the loss of innocence is an interesting idea that the story brought up. There aren’t any insinuations outside of Jackie’s father’s habit of hunting that there may be any violent streak in him, so whenever his father pulled out the pistol to point it at Woody it was an irreparable moment in his life. Even if his father never pulled another stunt like that again, the image that Jackie had of him would be forever changed. Knowing that his mother had an affair would undoubtedly shake up his view of her as well; considering how lackadaisical his reaction to it was I assumed that he thought that either something was going on, or that her going outside of the marriage was unsurprising. These two events happening so close to one another before Jackie had to say goodbye to his mother the next day would be enough to mature anyone in a short time.