Father; noun, a man in relation to his natural child or children. In Tobias Wolffe’s Powder and Today will be a Quiet Day written by Amy Hempel there are undeniable similarities and differences between two fathers. Both have fathers with major flaws, have love as a common bond, have father-child quality time, and both converge and diverge.
Both fathers have made mistakes, but are now trying to get to know their own children.
The father in Powder is more irresponsible than in Today will be a Quiet Day. In Today will be a Quiet Day he is more responsible and just wants to know about the kids and how they are doing. He seems to be very concerned about his children’s well-being. Especially considering that his sons friend committed suicide. In Powder, he just wants to be the calm and chill dad. He likes to push the buttons of his wife. He isn’t even trusted by his own child when they are driving home in the storm he says, “We’re talking about five, six inches (of snow). I’ve made it through worse than
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Despite both father’s issues, they have huge hearts. It is clear how much they both love their kids. In Today will be a Quiet Day the father wants to make the children happy at the end he says he has bad news and finishes with, “I lied, there is no bad news.”. The children love and admire the dads regardless of their mistakes. In Powder, the son is clearly more responsible than his dad but still looks up to him.
The father-child quality time throughout the stories are crucial. In Powder one debate is that, is it wrong that he took his child to Thesonius Monk. It is a valid question. Did he do it to be cool or because he just wants to spend time with him? He could just be wanting to be with him. Similar to Today will be a Quiet Day the father cancelled the music lessons and just wants to listen to the kids talk. He is completely okay with whatever they want to do. At the end he decided that “they are