He believed that work was all that mattered. There was no room in life for dreaming, inspiration, imagination, or self-gratification. The Old Man had a son, Larry, who was the complete opposite of him. Larry believed there was more to life than just work. Larry believed in the idea of experience and dreams give a man life. Without dreams or the want to enjoy life, a man I dead. The Old man felt that he had to make his son a good man, and a good man could only be what he thought a good man was. Though the son did not think the same way as his father, The Old Man was determined to beat his ideas into his son. "A mutual thirst to prevail existed - some crazy stubborn infectious contagious will to avoid the slightest surrender"(King 103). The son and the old man were unable to communicate with eachother. Neither of them could convince nor compromise with anything the other person wanted. This resulted in a huge fight that ultimately killed their relationship for many years. Their communication with eachother became virtually inexistent. " After that we spoke in terse mumbles or angry shouts, not to communicate with civility for three years"(King 103). .
"Never in My Life" is a poem by Walter McDonald that also shows the lack of communication between fathers and sons. The poem does not go as in depth as a story, but leaves the reader with the ability to find the implicit meaning or story of Walter's life. Walter grew up his whole life, never being able to really communicate with his father. This poem's story is more on an emotional level. Walter had never been able to tell his father he loved him, or heard his father express his love for him. As a young man, Walter denied the importance of this expression of emotion between father and son. "By twelve I felt something missing by twenty I knew, but told myself it did not matter. I had never told him either"(McDonald 107). Walter accepting the fact that "it did not matter" began the cycle of the absence of communication between father and son all over again.
