Hugh Garner's The Father

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“The Father” by Hugh Garner Topic: Discuss John Purcell’s personality traits that make him a poor father in the short story “The Father,” by Hugh Garner In the short story “The Father,” by Hugh Garner, it is apparent that John Purcell does not have a great relationship with his son because he is selfish, unaware, and uninvolved. Firstly, it begins to show that John Purcell is a selfish man when his wife, Helen, tells him that their son, Johnny, does not own the complete Boy Scout outfit. This is proven when he says ‘Listen, Helen, for God’s sake take him downtown with you tomorrow and get the rest of the Boy Scout outfit. I don’t want the goons down at the church thinking I’m too cheap to buy him one’ (65). John does not seem to care whether