The story "Reunion" written by an American author John Cheever is really short. Despite this format, the author managed to present the process of changing the point of view, the attitude towards the life of the main character.
It is a recollection of one meeting which the young man (the boy) had with his father. His parent divorced a few years ago, the boy had the transitway through New York where his father lived. The rhythm and the positive mood of the narrator had been kept by the author from the beginning to the end of the story but the attitude of the boy towards that meeting changed dramatically.
In the beginning of the story, the boy anticipated the coming meeting: "I felt that he was my father, my flesh and blood, my future and my doom". When they met, the anticipation changed into admiration: "I hoped that someone would see us together. I wished that we could be photographed. I wanted some record of our having been together."
The father suggested going for lunch to the nearest restaurant and where he started to conduct himself very rudely. "... he shouted. “Chop-chop.” Then he clapped his hands.... I have a whistle that is audible only to the ears of old waiters. Now, take out your little pad and your little pencil and see if you can get this straight: two Beefeater Gibsons. Repeat after me: two Beefeater Gibsons." The waiter asked (in fact insisted) the father and his son to leave the restaurant. The same happened in the next restaurant and next ...
All tragedy of the story was described in the last line:
"Goodbye, Daddy," I said, and I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father. "
Was it a tragedy of the young man who was disappointed by the behavior of his father? I think - no. The story conveyed to readers the sorrow of misunderstanding, the loneliness of two people who lost the relationships and even part of themselves ...
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