Figurative Language In Those Winter Sundays

In “Those Winter Sundays,” Robert Hayden explores the perspective of past tense to show the appreciation that the narrator feels for the sacrifices his father made for him when he was young. The overall purpose of the past tense perspective of the narrator is to emphasize that he never appreciated what his father did for him when he was young. However, as he looks back his perception of his father changes and wishes he thanked him more often. It is likely that Hayden is trying to convey that often during youth one has a limited perspective and they do not realize what other people are going through in their own lives. However, as one matures their view of the world is altered by their experiences. He is implying that if the narrator knew this when he was young he would have shown appreciation and made sure to thank his father. The lack of appreciation is mentioned in line five, “No one ever thanked him.” This implies that the problem was not that nobody never thanked his father, but he never thanked his father.

He was not aware that the breaking sounds were not only from the fire but possibly from the aches of his father, as a manual laborer. As an adult looking back on his childhood, he has come to the understanding that very much had escaped him when he was young. He regrets the times in his life like these “Sundays” when his father would sacrifice his morning to make sure his son is comfortable yet, he did not even make the effort to thank him. However, this lack of appreciation was not out of impoliteness, but simply the inability to recognize how much sacrifice is required to be a loving