Shooting Dad By Sarah Vowell Analysis

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A House Divided Yet United

In Sarah Vowell's "Shooting Dad" she describes how different she and her dad are. Anything either came across, they handled it a different way and believed in different things. While the two do not have a very good relationship. However, despite the vast differences between Vowell and her dad, it was this opposition against each other that made them similar. Even if their ideals and beliefs do not coincide with each other, the attitude and stubbornness about their individual hobbies is exactly the same. In a sense, this home was divided and united at the same time.
From the very beginning of Vowell's essay, she depicts a strong sense of discord between her and her father as she explains how different they are. Her father had a strong interest in guns and firearms, while Vowell herself had a strong interest in music and art (par. 6). Even though these are completely different interests, the two exhibited the exact same behavior concerning their own …show more content…

It is this same yet different attitude she and her dad held that makes their relationship interesting to observe. Vowell even admits this when she mentions the time she finally realized how similar she and her dad have been all these years: “Oh. My. God. My dad and I are the same person. We’re both smart-alecky loners with goofy projects and weird equipment.” (par. 29). All those years, even though they seemed like Vowell and her dad were completely different people, they had actually been acting the exact same way. The only difference between the two had been what they actually believed in and promoted; the way they handled everything, including each other’s opposition to their own respective hobbies, was the same. It was not their interests that made them similar. No, it was their behavior that screamed the parallels and