A Father-Son Relationship; Powder

by Tobias Wolff
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2012 BY KATELYND267
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Let me start off by saying, Powder, by Tobias Wolff was a cute short story about the relationship of a father and son, and
how it later will affect the boy in the future. I liked the tone of the story compared to the tone of Didion’s essay, Grief. The
relationship and bond between the father and son seemed somewhat heart warming. Some personal ethnography included
in the short story could possibly be the way the boy acted and his disposition, which was mostly taken from his mother,
rather than his father. He was more anxious and worried throughout the story, where the father was just basically “living in
the moment;” he was more of a risk taker. Although the mother was not a main character in the story, it is evident what
she is like by the first line of the story. The narrator says that the father had to “fight for the privilege,” of the company of
his own son because the mother was seemingly more rigid and strict.
I also really enjoyed the style this story was written in. There were a lot of details that really made the story come alive! At
first the title of the story, Powder, made me wonder what it was going to be about. As I continued to read the story, it was
clear that the title related to the snowfall. A white, dusty, powder substance that descending onto the earth onto a
December day. I also liked in the end how instead of using the word snow, the author summed up the story using the word,
“powder.”
This leads me to my next point; the overall moral and significance of the story and how this one event changed the boy’s
way of thinking. There are two main metaphors I found through reading this story, which relate to the significance also.
The ending line of the story describes what the boy took away from his experience with his father, “if you haven’t driven
on fresh powder, you having driven.” I felt that this meant if a person hasn’t tried to live their life to the fullest, why is it
worth even living? This is what the boy realized by the end. It is okay to be spontaneous. It is okay not to be such a
perfectionist. It is okay to try new things. It is not okay though, to always be worried- life is much better when a person not
only enjoys it, but enjoys themselves. The father was able to show his son that it’s okay sometimes to do things that may
be a little crazy, those are the moments in life that make it worth living. I also felt that the storm was a metaphor for the
life this family had. It was rocky and bumpy. They did not always see eye to eye, but in the end things worked out and
they made it through them. I felt this was important because the father said, “I want us all to be together again,” which
displayed that no matter what the hardships that he had to endure he’d get them through it. The boy’s father became a
guide, letting the boy know that even when things do go as planned, anything you set your mind to, you are capable of
working through it.