My Father's Perspective In Powder, By Tobias Wolff

In Tobias Wolff's short story "Powder," the narrator's perspective is on the son, and we know everything about how he thinks and feels, yet we are trying to learn what the father is thinking by just his actions and words. As they leave the lodge, we know that they have to get home in time for dinner and how the father has messed up in the past. They reach the road seeing a barricade on it and an officer standing by it explaining what happened. "My father sat with both hands on the wheel, rubbing the wood with his thumbs. He looked at the barricade for a long time. He seemed to be trying to master the idea of it. Then he thanked the trooper and, with a weird, old-maidy show of caution turned the car around. 'Your mother will never forgive me for this,' he said."

We can see through the father's actions that he is worried he might not make it for dinner as he rubs the steering wheel and stares at the barricade momentarily. At night when the barricade has no guards around, they try and drive through the snow-ridden road. He tells his son not to do the actions he is doing and puts a sense of matter on what he is saying. "'You don't. You have your strong points, sure, just not this. I only mention it because I don't want you to get the idea this is something anybody can do. I'm a great driver. That's not a virtue, okay? It's just a fact, and one you should be aware of. Of course you have to give the old heap some credit too. There aren't many cars I'd try this with.