Carnival Dog Buyer of Diamonds

In “The Carnival Dog, the Buyer of Diamonds,” Myron tries to step out of his father’s shoes multiple times, but ultimately realizes that his father is the dominant force in his life. Ever since Myron was a child, Abe Lufkin has done everything in his power to make sure his son is the spitting image of himself. Myron doesn’t love everything his father does, but doesn’t really mind it either; however he tries to stand up for himself and step out of his father’s shadow. When Myron is a teenager, Abe sends his son off to Judaism camp because he won a footrace his son thought he could win. Myron calls from college telling his dad his stopping his study of medical science hesitant about confronting his dad. When Myron and Abe play basketball, Myron gets in a fight with his father, but ends up losing. Whether or not he’s confident, Myron attempts to stop living his father’s life, but always ends up doing the opposite. One day out of nowhere, Abe tells his son that he must go to Judaism camp for the summer. Abe makes a deal with Myron however, that if he can beat him in a race by foot, he won’t have to go to the camp. Myron knows his father well, and to beat him at a competition of his choosing would humiliate, frustrate, and insult Abe. While Myron knows this would be a perfect opportunity to prove his headstrong father wrong and beat him at his own game, he purposely loses the race to keep order amongst his family. “He didn’t want to learn to learn religion during the hottest month of the year, but also, he knew, there was something in beating his father that was like toppling of an ancient king.”(p.146) All his life, Myron has been living under the influence of his father, and when given an opportunity to change that, he declines and lets nature continue its course. While Myron let his father get away with sending him to camp, he was only a teenager and summer camp wasn’t worth a fight. However, college is a life altering decision and Myron knows Abe’s choice isn’t