The Reunion Critique

Essay by camkarCollege, UndergraduateA, April 2004

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Critique: "Reunion"

In Andre Dubus's short story, "Reunion," the author introduces a character that shows more interest in fighting with others than noticing his son who he has not seen for years. Trying to find a nice place to sit and talk, the father gives all his attention to the waiters demanding better service and more drinks in an ill-mannered approach. It almost seems as if the father is making an effort to start trouble. By what the father says and does, the author exemplifies an inconsiderate, self-centered and cantankerous character that the reader may not be fond of.

In the beginning of the short story, the boy and his father start off their visit by walking to a restaurant close to a train station. The boy had not seen his father in three years and was hopping for a nice visit with him before he needed to hop the train again.

When sitting down to a table the father immediately shouted out for a waiter, demanded service while clapping his hands to grab the waiter's attention. When the waiter asked not to be clapped at, the father replied by saying, "I have a whistle that is audible only to the ears of old waiters. Now, take out your little pen and your little pencil and see if you can get this straight..." This situation demonstrates the aggressive father's cantankerousness. He gave the waiter no time before the father began to get frustrated because there had not yet been service at his table. When the father was asked to go somewhere else to eat, the father willingly got up and said to his son, "Come on, Charlie, let's get the hell out of here."

By the third restaurant the boy and his father...