Writers use specific qualities in their work in order to convey a theme, mood, or even contribute to the development of the characters, specific to the story. Successful authors are able to blend grotesque, pathos, and humor so that the story is cohesive as well as responsive. In the short story “Reunion” by John Cheever, these elements are used to construct a story about a young boy and the relationship between him and his distant father.
Although the story is short, Cheever incorporates humor, pathos, and grotesque into the dialogue and narration in order to uncover the reader’s emotions of frustration, pity, and comicality towards the protagonist and antagonist. In the story, specific quotations influence how the reader feels toward the characters and the plot. One may anticipate that everything would turn out smoothly, but in reality the “Reunion” between father and son is full of disappointment and is a reminder that some things never change.
From the beginning to end of the story the father is seen as a pretentious and unthoughtful individual. The father’s strong personality is immediately clear as the reader begins the story. The first examples of the fathers grotesque character, is in the first paragraph, when the narrator says, “His secretary wrote to say that he would meet me at the information booth at noon… ” This quote lets the reader know that the father isn’t devoted to having a meaningful relationship with his son, while allowing the reader to develop their first opinion about his behavior.
The father’s personality only grows stronger as the story continues. While Charlie is trying to enjoy this experience, his father causes even more problems by lashing out at the restaurant employees. On the bottom of page 1, the father yells at the waiter, “I should have brought my whistle… I have a whistle that is audible only to the ears of old waiters. ” This is one of the many quotes where the father is being very disrespectful and inconsiderate of others feelings.
Examples like these cause the reader to develop feelings of frustration towards the father, because they don’t understand the purpose of his actions. Because the father takes things to the extreme, some of his actions are almost found to be humorous. His outbursts are so unnecessary and ridiculous that one may find themselves laughing at his actions. This is Cheever’s intent; to make the reader laugh and feel guilty about it. Grotesque and pathos go hand in hand in the development of a story. One causes and has a major affect on the other.
In this case, the use of grotesque initially evokes the reader’s feelings of pity towards Charlie and his situation. As the story begins, Charlie, the protagonist describes his father in a delightful way: “He was a big, good-looking man, and I was terribly happy to see him again… I hoped someone would see us together. ” Charlie is overwhelmingly happy to see his father whom he hasn’t in 3 years. However, shortly after learning this, the reader is hit with a disappointing conclusion about the father’s personality.
Once the reader realizes why Charlie is not particularly close with his father, they can sympathize with the young boy about what he has to go through. Because Charlie was so excited to reunite with his dad, the fact that he was so let down, upsets the reader and only confirms their original assumption about the father. Another example of pathos that may not be so obvious is when the narrator says, “I followed my father out of that restaurant into another. ” This excerpt expresses that the son is trapped; trapped in a traumatic situation, where he has no power stand up to his father and speak his mind.
He is stuck following his father’s every action, hoping things will change. However they do not. The constant disappointment Charlie endures only causes the reader to develop even stronger sympathetic feelings towards Charlie as well as hatred towards his father. Cheever’s wise word choice also contributes to pathos because certain words spark a feeling within a reader. For example, at the bottom of the last page, the narrator switches from using “dad” to using “daddy” because it is a more powerful and meaningful word.
Charlie used the term “daddy” in order to remind his father that he is and will always be his son, while the author uses “daddy” as a final way to emotionally connect the character and the reader. Lastly, the use of first person point of view is another technique the author uses that results in a deeper relationship between reader and character. Charlie in this case is referring to himself as if he is telling the reader about his feelings. Rather than hearing the story from an outsider’s perspective, the reader can relate to the Charlie because they are only seeing the story from his frame of reference.
These are all examples of pathos and how the use of it contributes to feelings of pity toward one specific character. Cheever successfully used humor, pathos, and grotesque from beginning to end of the story to highlight the characters personalities as well as arouse the reader’s feelings towards the characters and plot. Use of these writing qualities express the writer’s overall purpose and meaning distinctly. “Reunions” are automatically linked to happy thoughts. However, this story demonstrates that families can be full of underlying problems.