Fathers
appears in Alice Munro’s collection The View from Castle Rock. I liked this story. The protagonist lives in a rural area, and reflects back on a couple of the girls she knew from her youth and their fathers. One girl’s father is an ass, to say something nice about him. He beats his wife and his kids. The daughter, Dahlia, has moved out but she occasionally sneaks back to watch unseen. She wants to make sure her little brother isn’t getting the worst end of it.
The second girl is Frances, from even earlier in the narrator’s life, middle school or so. Frances’ family moved from Chicago after being laid off. The narrator is roped into walking Frances to school and being her friend. Like middle school kids everywhere, especially girls, the narrator doesn’t want to associate with the new girl. Nevertheless, she does the minimum that everyone expects her to do but little more. Frances’ father seems like a swell guy; we meet him when the narrator attends a party at Frances’ house.
In neither girl’s case do the girls interact much with their fathers. The reader sees how the men treat others in the family, and can perhaps infer how they treat the daughters from that. The one yells at the younger brother. The other burns his fingers trying to put out a chimney fire, and then playfully flirts with his wife (in front of the kids scandalously!).
What struck me is how accepted the bad
father was. People grumbled about him and remarked how saintly his wife was. I very much got the feeling that he was considered more normal than the good
father.
I’m not quite sure what about the characters drew me in so much. I thought all three of the girls (Dahlia, Frances and the narrator) were engaging and likable, each in different ways. I’ve had Munro’s Runaway on my shelf for a couple of years, but haven’t yet gotten to it. I probably should move it higher on my list.
This was another audio download from Barnes & Noble, no longer available.
Title: Fathers
Author: Alice Munro
Narrator: Kimberly Farr
