Alligators, a fishing rod, and many strange memories shaped a young boy's perspective on life. The author, Francis Scott Key, of “My Dad Tried To Kill Me With An Alligator” used characterization, imagery, and setting to develop the message that people will not always understand the lessons they are being taught right away. Key shows how the younger brother, known as Fat-Tart, showed drastic change as he went through his life through characterization. The text states, “‘Is it safe to go so fast?’ I’d ask, after he’d try to outrun a jetski with his boat” (Key 2). Fat-Tart is showing signs of true concern for what his father is doing and why he acts the way he does. He does not fully understand why his father chose to be so wild and careless. …show more content…
By the realization that when they look dumb, like he thought his father did quite often, that’s how they were teaching these lessons correctly. He does not know everything that he thought he would, but his eyes are open to a new view on his father’s lessons. “Had I truly believed the thing I saw in the water was a head attached to a body... would my father really have asked me to go near such a thing? Of course, not. Maybe” (Key 9). Fat-Tart is reflecting on his life and is coming to the realization that his father would not let him do something that he knew was not safe, just like he is now doing with his daughters. It is clearly shown throughout the memoir that the brothers are a great contrast from each other. Key expresses this through the use of imagery. “He’d started calling me “Fat-Tart” because he thought I was fat, which I was, owing to a glandular disorder that made me eat Pop-Tarts until I stopped feeling sad” (Key 2). This is what they thought of the younger brother in the story. However, they viewed the older brother in a completely different light: “My brother was tall and blond, and so we called him “Bird,” as in Big Bird” (Key