"Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." This quote by Marilyn Monroe represents the two fathers. in Little Things,The father's relationship with his wife falls apart. The father in Today Will Be a Quiet Day has a good relationship with his children. Even though Little Things father made a wrong choice and right now does not have a good relationship with either his soon to be ex-wife and his kid he can still have a good relationship in his future life. In Little Things by Raymond Carver the parents of the baby are very hostile to each other. The father is told he cannot have the baby, so he fights for the baby. In Today Will Be a Quiet Day by Amy Hempel, the father and the kids are very happy with each other. …show more content…
"I'm glad you're leaving!" (Carver 331.) The mother and father are obviously fighting. The mother is trying to get a rise out of him by shouting at him and taking the baby picture away. This quote shows how immature the parents are being. "You can't even look me in the face, can you?" (Carver 331.) When the mother says this the readers assume the dad has been unfaithful in someway. This is why he is leaving. In Today Will Be a Quiet Day the father is mature and loves his children. "He thought his kids were as self-contained as one of those dogs you sometimes see carrying home its own leash. But you could read things wrong" (Hempel 660.) He thinks his children are more independent because of having divorced parents. One dad is getting ready to be single while the other dad is already single. Even though they both have broken families they are the opposite. One is more mature and one is the future of the …show more content…
"I want the baby." (Carver 332.) Only after the mom takes the picture away is when the dad wants the baby. if the dad would've just left instead of insisting on taking the baby they would not have been a fight or a story. "The father canceled their music lessons and decided to make a day of it." (Hempel 660.) He wanted to spend the day with his kids. He could've just made them go to their music lessons and do what he normally did but he cares about his kids and wanted to spend time with them. "The father had offered to take them to the men's arm-wrestling semifinals." (Hempel 660.) The kids did not want to go to arm wrestling, really they picked where they went, but if the dad was not so laid back and was serious like the other dad he could've said no we are going there. At least the father wanted to do something with them. The two fathers have opposite personalities because of their time in life and the situations that they are in. The father in Little Things will grow out of his selfishness and will want to set a day aside for just them, so he spend time with his kid like the other