Chelsea Deculus
Professor Freeman
English 1002, Section 01
20 July 2015
Father’s Love Modern poets have different memories and experiences with their fathers. Occasionally one is raised with love and affection or the opposite. Maybe he did not show much love or they have respect for their father. Sometimes they have respect, horror, or delayed appreciation for their fathers. Some people remember their father by carrying on a tradition. In Robert Frost “Mending Wall,” the persona neighbor tries to keep his father tradition by having a fence. The neighbor refuses to go against his father “He will not go against his father” (Frost 43). He wants to keep the wall because his father has told him “Good fences make good neighbors” (Frost 45).Although the persona dislikes the wall, he still helps his neighbor repair it every spring. The neighbor respects and shows love for his father by keeping a fence. Occasionally individuals may grow up with fear of their father. For instance, in Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires,” the speaker remembers how her father enjoyed seeing destruction of others homes caused by fires. He was excited to see these tragedy’s happen to the rich especially: “If there were a Cadillac or any car/in a curved driveway, my father smiled a smile /” (Barreca16-17). When the family would go to the fires their father showed them affection: “My father who never held us/ would take my hand and point to falling cinders that /covered the ground like snow, or, excited, show us” (Barreca 22-24). The speaker’s mother could not wait for these horrific events to be over: “My mother/ watched my father, not the houses. She was happy/ only when we were ready to go, when it was finally over/ and nothing else could burn” (Barreca 25-27). The persona characterization of her father is quit disturbing. When she was younger she had a fear of her father but, when she grows up she realized that he was mental disorder. Sometimes a father’s love can be overlooked; his kind deeds are taken for granted. One does not fully understand their father’s deeds until they become parents themselves. Specifically, in Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays”. Hayden discusses how hard his father worked. The persona father also showed his