In the short story "Powder", by Tobias Wolff, the author uses telling details, such as dialogue and imagery, to provide insight about the father's character to the reader. The father tends to be a more relentless person; for example, the father manages to convince the mother to let him take the son skiing before Christmas, "He wouldn't give up. He promised, hand in hand, to take good care of me and have me home for dinner on Christmas Eve, and she relented. But as we were checking out of the lodge that morning," the son reveals that him and his father checked out of the lodge, which implies that the father was able to convince the mother to let him go. The father is also made out to be a rather casual person, "Then, he thanked the trooper and