"I will have my father's body burned into ashes. I will pack these ashes into paper bags. I will go to the mountains with my mother, sister, and the cannon. I will plunge his remains into the barrel and point it into a hill so that he doesn't take anyone with him. I will light the fuse. But I will not cover my ears. Because when I blow what used to be my dad into the earth, I want it to hurt" (pg.23).
This quote really speaks to me a lot. At the beginning of the story I noticed that the narrator and her father were described as to different people. The narrator seems to not have much in common with her father, they're the total opposite. It was toward the end when I started to notice that they are the same person. Before this quote they were out in mountains shooting off the cannon. When I read this quote it made me think many things, for example she's going to complete his wish off having his ashes shot out of the cannon he made himself. When she says she's going to do this its like a replay of the moment her and her father bonded together.
It also says to me that a part of her father lives in her. Before she didn't see what they had in common until they were at the mountains. This quote also shows her determination to do this by the way she says "I will" over and over again. Throughout the story she would dislike the noise of gun shots but towards the end she enjoyed the shot of her fathers cannon. When she says she won't cover her ears so she hears the noise, it shows us she likes it and this might just be the last time she hears the fire. She wants it to hurt because it hurts her more to lose her father then to remember the bond they shared.
Hi Xochilt,
ReplyDeleteI like your final point: "She wants it to hurt because it hurts her more to lose her father then to remember the bond they shared." What's important is that had she not experienced the cannon with her father to realize their similarities, she would have never agreed to shot him from the canon. She probably would have thought it was a ridiculous idea, just like all the other ideas of her father from her youth. She needed a new perspective of her father, and her willingness to carry out his final wishes demonstrates her new perspective and relationship with him.
Thanks for your insights.
Take care,
Lauren
Hello Xochilt,
ReplyDeleteI think it's very unfortunate that the author and her dad didn't start to bond, or have a good relationship until she was an adult. All of those years while she was growing up, the author and her dad isolated themselves from each other, too self-absorbed in their own lives to give attention to the other. I think they are both guilty of the estrangement, but it's nice they managed to connect after all those years, and it's nice there seems to be no ill will towards each other for it.
Carrie
Hi Xochilt - I agree that a part of Sarah's father will always be with her. When they bonded while shooting off the cannon, Sarah's father helped provide a memory of when they were able to enjoy an activity together. When he is gone she will have the ability to celebrate his life by doing activities that remind her of him.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Sarah Baker
Hi Xochilt,
ReplyDeleteI really like that you chose this quote because it also spoke to me, specially the last part of it. It was just so powerful, but I didn't know how to put it into words and they way you put it was perfect. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.