Essay On The Altar Of The Family 384i6w

ESSAY ON THE ALTER OF THE FAMILY The purpose of the short story “The Altar of the Family” by Michael Wilding is to show that society expects people to conform in a certain manner and if this is not done they are excluded and termed unmanly. Wilding presents an image of male behaviour that is not deemed acceptable by the father or society but then challenges this by showing how the boy wants to be more like how his dad wants him to be. The writer achieves his purpose through the narrative conventions of characterisation, descriptive language and narrative point of view The characterisation of David shows us how he is forced to step into the ideals of becoming a man. David is the main character in the short story and he is shown to challenge society’s stereotype of a young boy. This is shown through the example “he played with his young sister, Lindy, dressing and undressing dolls” (pg. 60). This quote tells us that David is different from your normal stereotype of a young boy as he is seen to be playing with dolls. David is also called names when he acts differently to his Dad’s expectations. Words like lily-livered ‘poofter’ and ‘moping poet’ are indirectly used to describe him. He is also seen to be curious as he asks many questions but he gets a little to no information. This is seen when David asks his parents if his family were convicts, “Oh really, David, don’t be ridiculous,” (pg. 59) his mother answers. His father however, is ambivalent, so he does not know whether they were convicts or not. He also tries to show his father that he can be manly when he assures his parents he’ll be alright at home alone. Thus characterisation has been used by Wilding to reinforce the idea that you have to have qualities of masculinity to be accepted in society. The characterisation of David’s Dad is shown to be a somewhat superior role in the family. David’s Dad can be considered the antagonist for this short story as he tells everyone mostly David what he should do and what he shouldn’t. This is shown through the quote “Damned if I bred a son to go and cover himself with white feathers, take them off you fool.” (pg. 60) This tells us that he commands David to do what he thinks should be done. He also frequently used the slang ‘Damned’ or ‘Damn’ as which tells us he was not highly educated. He is seen to only criticise David throughout the text and we seem to tend to call him bossy. This is seen when the father tells him “Damn grown boy playing with dolls” (pg. 60). The father seems to want David to grow into his shoes so that after he dies, he can everything onto David knowing that he can fulfil what task he was given. Thus the father’s role in the text is to guide his son so that he could follow in his footsteps and gain masculinity. The narrative point of view also helps show the masculinity of the characters in the perspective they talk. The narrative point of view of this text is third person limited omniscient. The story is told chronologically. The story is seen from David’s point of view, “David could never understand the idea of the family; he never knew which family they referred to”, (pg. 59) so that we know his confusion about family and honour which is very important in the story. Due it being limited omniscient we only see the thoughts and his opinion of other characters but we miss out on the thoughts and opinions of other characters on David. This point of view is not really helpful as we don’t really know what the father in the text actually wants for him whether it be good or bad. Thus point of view helps reinforce the point that the author wants to make to the entire society, that you will only be accepted as a man if you have masculine qualities. The use of language helps to establish the point that you will only be accepted as a man if you have masculine qualities. Wilding uses a lot of descriptive language to describe the characters and also to describe different situations. Words and phrases such as, ‘un-Australian’, ‘undemocratic’ and ‘She was as dry as an inland desert, her skin furrowed and lined and cracked…tall, tight-lipped imperious

ESSAY ON THE ALTER OF THE FAMILY way.’ to show the qualities David’s mother possesses; words like ‘poofter’, ‘moped poet’ to describe his son David and the use of the phrase ‘flat emptiness of eternity to show that there is no hope at all for the boy to become a real man like his father. Also the use of Figurative language emphasises the opposing ideas of masculinity and setting described in the text produces different environments in which diverse ideas of gender are challenged. Thus the use of language helps reinforce the point that Wilding wants to make to the society. The text ‘The Altar of the Family’ provides us with an insight into how people are treated if they do not meet their required stereotype. This is shown through the narrative conventions of characterisation, point of view and the use of language. Thus Michael Wilding has made his point about the acceptance of young individuals into our society and he has also left an impact on us which makes us think about “what if we were like David?”