Get With the Times
What's more quintessentially American than the struggle for and against change? And who would be a more quintessential American than a patriotic, upstanding, self-made bunting and fireworks manufacturer? Father is the perfect encapsulation of the late 19th century businessman; he’s no J.P. Morgan or Andrew Carnegie, but he has successfully played the capitalist game. He has a stout manse and a healthy family and a stable life. I think it’s fair to say that father represents the “old guard” of the novel (as opposed to, say, Tateh’s newness as an innovator). Father represents the traditional values of the time, and is struggling to maintain his place in society as a familial provider and role model. Instead, he becomes bitter, disagreeable, and occasionally rude as he begins to see his former status slipping from him. In one of the first scenes of the novel, Father spots a “rag ship, with a million dark eyes staring at him. Father, a normally resolute person, suddenly foundered in h...