Vowel talks about her relationship with her father in "Shooting Dad". The title at first may seem a little odd because it suggests violence, but this isn't the case when it comes to their relationship. Instead we see how Vowel's father possess a specific liking towards something. He is passionate about guns. So passionate in fact, that when he dies, he wants to somehow integrate this love into his passing. This is when the title of the story comes into play. He wants his children and wife to shoot his ashes from a canon.
Guns have been such an important part of his life. It's not just the fact that Vowel's father likes collecting firearms, but also the fact that he's built a canon with his own hands. He spent two years putting it together out of scratch. That must make him proud because it's probably not an easy task. He feels a certain amount of attachment towards this canon and wants to mark the end of his time on earth being shot out of the it. This way he'll go out with something familiar, something that he loves and appreciates. It's similar to the way people choose to have their ashes deposited in a place that holds meaning to them. This canon is meaningful to him.
Hi Sarahi,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the title to this essay, I thought it was literally meant! But like the saying goes, "You can't judge a book.....". The authors dad seemed obsessed by guns, but didn't really push it on the author. He gave her the chance when she was 6 years old to fire the gun, and when she realized it wasn't for her, he let it go. The author says that her parents were adamant about letting their children make their own decisions, and she grew up to be her won person, not what her dad wanted her to be. I wonder, if the authors twin sister had ended up not liking guns as much as her dad, if he still would have not pushed this issue?