My Father's Axe by Tim Winton
My Father's Axe by Tim Winton
Setting
'My Father's Axe' begins at the main character's semi-rural house. A house in which he had lived most of his life. This was a house filled with so many memories, stories and emotions. It is also the house where the main character discovers that his father's axe had gone missing.
The story is set in different periods of time, such as the main character's boyhood, to when he has grown, married and started a family of his own, and later, to a time when his mother has a stroke and she leaves the house with the father to live in a Home. He returns with his wife and child to, once again, live there.
The author also refers to a time when the main character is recounting his childhood and then returns to the present, where he continues the story.
The author also shows the main character having or remembering various dreams, dreams in which the main character is in peril and is subsequently rescued by his heroic father.
Plot
At the beginning, we see the main character in a state of panic as he discovers that his father's axe has gone missing, “ … it is not anywhere. But who would steal an axe in this neighbourhood, this street where I grew up and have lived much of my life? No one steals on this street. Not an axe.
It is my father's axe.”
We are also introduced to the main character's family, such as his wife Elaine, and his son Jamie. We also see what each person's role is within the family.
The axe, although real, symbolises the main character's father, who is a strong and reliable man, a man you can depend on. The axe also reminds the main character of the things his father taught him, and of their relationship.
The story is resolved when the axe is returned to the rightful owner, but only after the main character embarks on a physical search for the axe, and an emotional journey, as he examines his own memories and feelings.
Conflict
The internal, psychological conflict in the story appears
Setting
'My Father's Axe' begins at the main character's semi-rural house. A house in which he had lived most of his life. This was a house filled with so many memories, stories and emotions. It is also the house where the main character discovers that his father's axe had gone missing.
The story is set in different periods of time, such as the main character's boyhood, to when he has grown, married and started a family of his own, and later, to a time when his mother has a stroke and she leaves the house with the father to live in a Home. He returns with his wife and child to, once again, live there.
The author also refers to a time when the main character is recounting his childhood and then returns to the present, where he continues the story.
The author also shows the main character having or remembering various dreams, dreams in which the main character is in peril and is subsequently rescued by his heroic father.
Plot
At the beginning, we see the main character in a state of panic as he discovers that his father's axe has gone missing, “ … it is not anywhere. But who would steal an axe in this neighbourhood, this street where I grew up and have lived much of my life? No one steals on this street. Not an axe.
It is my father's axe.”
We are also introduced to the main character's family, such as his wife Elaine, and his son Jamie. We also see what each person's role is within the family.
The axe, although real, symbolises the main character's father, who is a strong and reliable man, a man you can depend on. The axe also reminds the main character of the things his father taught him, and of their relationship.
The story is resolved when the axe is returned to the rightful owner, but only after the main character embarks on a physical search for the axe, and an emotional journey, as he examines his own memories and feelings.
Conflict
The internal, psychological conflict in the story appears