Penny in the Dust

Penny in the Dust In the short story “Penny in the Dust” by Ernest Bucker, we see a father-son relationship. Three points that I will be discussing are: Pete and his qualities, the conflict, and the relationship Pete and his father have. In this story we see a weak father and son relationship in the starting, which becomes better and stronger. First of all, Pete is a 7-year old boy who learns how much his father loves him. Pete is softhearted boy who loves his father more than a 7-year old boy would. Pete is also an inarticulate child who is unable to tell his father his feeling for him.

Another quality Pete has is that he is very sensitive person. We see this when he cried after losing the penny. One quote that shows that Pete is inarticulate is when he states, “Oh thanks” I said. Nothing more. I couldn’t expose any of my eagerness either. ” after he receives the penny. This shows Pete wanted to say something, but didn’t know how. Pete is softhearted, inarticulate, and sensitive boy who wants to show his love for his dad, but is unable to. In addition, Pete and his father are unable to tell one another how much they love each other.

We can see the theme throughout the story; one example is when the father was unable to give the penny to his son. He had to wait till it caught Pete’s attention, and then give it. The conflict affects Pete, because he wants to tell his father everything he imagines, but doesn’t know how. An example of the conflict affecting Pete is when he is unable to tell the whole story about him losing the penny. Also another example is when Pete and his father were farming, he was unable to tell his father his opinions. He couldn’t tell his father if he wanted three rows or four rows, or if he could put him up on the oxen.

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I think the conflict is believable, because the Father is inarticulate while his son is very imaginative. So it can get awkward when they are talking to each other. Both the father and son were affected by the conflict, but in the end they were able to make an emotional connection. Lastly is the theme, which is the relationship between the father and son. The father-son relationship is important, because Pete and his father learn a lot more about each other than before. The relationship starts off weak, but ends up strong. At first Pete was unable to tell his dad how he lost the penny.

He said, “If father hadn’t been there I might have told her the whole story. ” In the end when the father finds the penny, Pete is able to tell the whole story to him. Also for the first time, his father had tears in his eyes, and also put his arm around Pete. In fact, the theme can be observed through Pete’s actions. He is always reluctant talking to his dad, and doesn’t really communicate with him. At the outset of the story, Pete doesn’t have much of a relationship with his dad, but upon losing the penny and then looking for it with his dad, he develops one.

Accordingly, he also becomes more open and able to talk to his dad. Finally, Pete discovers that his father does love him. The theme is important for both the father and Pete, because in the beginning they have a weak relationship, but in the end they develop a better one. Now they know each other better and can support one another. Father and son relationships are still important, because if you don’t have a relationship than you will be unable to understand and support one another. Also when you are older you will be able to make a better relationship with you children.

In short, the theme and characters are important, because it will impact their life and possibly everyone around them. In conclusion, we should all have a good relationship with our family, so it can benefit us in the future. In this story we see Pete as a softhearted, inarticulate and sensitive boy, he also is timid to sharing his feeling of his dad to him. Also in the end we see a strong father-son relationship forming. In brief, in the story we see a small relationship between the father and son, but it evolves to become a better and stronger bond. By: Manraj Sangha

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