GOLDEN DARTERS ESSAY

Emily and Gerald in “The Golden Darters”: Analyzing Their Contrasting Perspectives &
Relationship

Often literature explores the dynamic theme of family relationships. The short story “The
Golden Darters” by Elizabeth Winthrop analyzes the relationship of Emily, a pre­teen girl, and her father, Gerald. The short story takes place at their summer house, where the two characters build fishing flies together. The contrasting ways that Emily and Gerald use and perceive the flies directly shows the ironic way in which both view their relationship with the other. Gerald employs the flies as a tool for him and Emily to bond over and strengthen their relationship, and Emily involuntarily complies. In contrast, Emily does not view the flies as a way for her father and her to bond, and actually uses the flies as a device to express her maturity. Ironically, Emily’s manipulation of the flies to express her independence from her parents opposes Gerald’s main purpose for the flies — so Emily and him can spend time together. In essence, the flies symbolize Emily and her father’s relationship. The way they both utilize the flies shows the irony of their relationship because Gerald tries to employ the flies as a way for them to come together, while Emily, ironically, uses the flies for independence — which brings the two farther apart. Gerald implements the flies as a way to bring him and Emily closer together in a controlling and insincere way, which gives insight into him and Emily’s relationship. Although Gerald has a good purpose for the flies, ironically, he uses them in a controlling way in order to force
Emily to spend time with him. Gerald is always “ready to start” building the flies, no matter if
Emily wants to or not (344). In addition, Emily “never [feels] comfortable” building the flies with
Gerald, but he still makes her sit down and build them because he wants them to spend quality time together (344). The way Gerald forces Emily to spend time with him and create the flies reflects their relationship. Gerald’s purpose for the flies — to improve him and Emily’s

relationship through them spending time together — directly reveals how inflicting and forced their relationship really is. In addition, Gerald disingenuously says that him and Emily’s time spent together is great, which shows their insincere relationship. Although Gerald states that the flies are “beautiful”, he does not truly “mean it” and the only reason he tries to describe them as such is because is because he wants to “apologize” for the problems of their relationship, such as Gerald “[loosing] his temper” with her (344). As previously stated, Gerald calls the flies they make together beautiful, and since the flies symbolize their relationship, he therefore tries to characterize their relationship as beautiful. Yet — even though Gerald’s main purpose of the flies is to improve their relationship — when Gerald describes the flies and their relationship as excellent, it is clearly false. Emily never really feels comfortable around her father since he easily looses his temper with her over silly reasons, so they do not have a heartfelt bond. Therefore, when Gerald states his belief that the flies and their relationship are really great, it proves how feigned and un­genuine their relationship really is. Emily unknowingly utilizes the flies for independence, which gives insight into the irony of their relationship because she uses them in the complete opposite way from what her father intends. In contrast to Gerald’s usage of the flies, Emily uses the flies as a signal of her coming of age. Emily pierces her ears with her friends and wears the golden darters as earrings despite the fact that her parents state she is “forbidden to...until [she] [is] in college”(346). Emily piercing her ears indicates her growing older because it is an act that she is not supposed to do until she is totally grown and in college — where teenagers officially separate from their parents and become independent. Therefore, Emily wearing the golden darters in her pierced ears shows the way she uses the flies for her own own liberty. Emily even enjoys how the flies make her look “free” and “different” because they exhibit her maturity (345­346). The golden darters in her ears make Emily feel different and free because

they indicate her change from a child into a newly independent and different person. Overall,
Emily uses the flies to indicate her maturity. Additionally, Emily’s usage of the flies further portrays Gerald and her relationship as ironic. As previously stated, Gerald employs the flies as a way for him and Emily to spend time together, while Emily implements them for her own independence. When Emily wears the flies as earrings, Gerald is shocked because Emily uses them the exact opposite way from “which the flies were intended” by him (347). Emily believes that the flies “look good” the way she utilizes them, but Gerald only disagrees, and sees the flies as “hanging upside down” (347). Ironically, Emily literally and metaphorically flips the flies upside down from the way Gerald intends them to be. To Emily, the “upside down” flies make her look more mature, and she likes that. Although, to Gerald, Emily’s
“upside down” flies are wrong, because the way Emily uses the flies only brings him and
Emily further apart, which is the exact opposite from Gerald’s purpose for the flies. Both Emily and Gerald’s views of the flies contrast the other’s view, which therefore reflects their incongruous relationship. In essence, Emily uses the flies for her independence, which expresses her and Gerald’s ironic and incoherent relationship. Overall, the flies symbolize Emily and Gerald’s relationship. The different ways that they both interpret the flies exposes their discordant relationship because while Gerald views the flies as a way for them to bond, Emily sees the flies as a way to express her maturity. Gerald must force Emily into spending time with him, so therefore the flies give insight into how forced and insincere their relationship really is. Conversely, Emily perceives the flies as an opportunity to express her independence, which is shown through her piercing her ears and wearing the flies. From Gerald’s point of view, Emily wears the flies upside down, when from
Emily’s point of view, she wears them the right way. Gerald and Emily’s contrasting views of the flies further portrays their relationship as ironic and conflicting. Overall, Gerald and Emily’s

relationship is ironic, insincere, and forced. In retrospect, there is more to be said about their relationship than just that, and Gerald may be trying to protect Emily from the qualms of maturity. Although Emily piercing her ears and wearing the golden darters as earrings indicates her growing up, the reason she pierces her ears is because her friends do it. Emily seems to want to grow up when she sees all her friends doing it. Even when Emily pierces her ears because she wants to grow up like her friends, her ears become infected and she is hurt.
In retrospect, although her dad seems to be forcing her to bond with him and stay a child, he may be doing it for her own protection. Even though, to Emily, independence seems like a good thing, her father may be trying to keep her a child because he knows of the damaging effects it can cause. Gerald seems to be injured throughout the story, and his relationship with his wife also seems to be problematic, so he may want to keep Emily from the troubles he faces as an adult. Wearing flies upside down may seem mature, but there are many consequences that many follow eventually, so it may be better to use them the way they are intended.