I wrote this my freshman year, so forgive the poor grammar and sentence structure.

Life With Father

The bibliographic information is found on the title page. The author of the book is Clarence Day. The title of the book is Life With Father. The book was published in Garden City, New York. The publisher is The Sundial Press. The copyright date is 1947. There are 258 pages in the book. The book is about a young boy and his family growing up with a stubborn and arrogant Father. Father is set in his beliefs and traditions. Members of the household must cope and adjust to Father's ways.

The plot of the story is trying to live with Father and adjust to his beliefs and traditions. Father has his own ideas about how peop0le should behave and dress. He often ridicules people when they do not meet up to his expectations. Father believes that all people should think and act as he does. Father believes that in public, gentlemen should keep their coats and vests buttoned up at all times. Sometimes Father's beliefs clash with the wants of Mother or the children. Clarence, the eldest boy, is expected to learn music, like it, and play it well. Father arranges for him to take lessons. Clarence is not good at music. He cannot understand the notes, see them, and he cannot carry a tune. He plays in the basement and his music floats all over the house and neighborhood. Neighbors are complaining, therefore, Mother persuades Father to let Clarence give up the music lessons. Father believes that Mother should keep a record of her expenses. Mother does not have a passion for numbers as Father does, and in addition to that, her record keeping is not always accurate. Father does not believe in professional sports. His sons invented a code to know which of their favorite teams won. George, the second oldest, looks up the baseball scores in the paper early in the morning when nobody else is up (page 123). George plays the piano to relay to his brothers which team won. If their favorite team won, he plays a happy sounding song, if their favorite team lost, he would play a dirge or lament. Father, meanwhile, does not know that this code is going on and therefore he is not offended. Father does not like to go to parties, Mother, however, does. For example, when Father receives an invitation he makes it known that he does not wish to go to the party. Mother writes to the host without Father's knowledge and accepts the invitation. Mother tells Father about the party they are going to at the last minute. This makes Father angry, so he yells. Father unhappily comes along, so as not to offend the host. Father, despite his pessimism, ends up having a good time. Mother also likes to hold parties and have people over for dinner, Father, on the contrary, despises parties with a passion yet tolerates an occasional dinner with friends at his home. Father does not like to have parties at his house for a variety of reasons. First of all he claims that they invade his privacy, consequently, when Mother holds a party she usually tries to keep Father out of it. Lastly Father believes that when Mother holds a party she turns the house upside down. Father is usually good about having friends and sometimes new guests over to his house for dinner, provided that there are only a few people and they do not stay for long. The characters played a major roll in the plot development.

There are three main characters and two minor characters described in the story. First of all, Father is a main character. He acts arrogant and stubborn. Father believes that everyone he meets should think and act like he does. Father is set in his ways and likes everything to be routine; this is the way he feels comfortable. Father has to be in his own home to be comfortable. Father believes that people do not get ill, he believes the cause of illnesses to be sadness or loneliness, and that somebody can be made better by being cheered up. Father believes himself to be perfect due to the fact that he has never broken a bone and rarely gets ill. Secondly, Mother is a main character. Mother is intelligent and quick-witted. She has a passion for buying things, especially when she gets to charge them. Mother often buys things that neither she not her family can use. The book mentions several times of Mother being hypnotized by people into buying things that she did not really want. Mother bought a grandfather clock and then blamed it on the hypnotic auctioneer. Mother bought a set of volumes of French Court from a beautifully dressed woman book agent on the sole purpose of the monogram on the front, which seemed quite de luxe when the agent hypnotized Mother (page 250). Mother is beautiful. Mother is obedient to her husband most of the time. Although sometimes she is not as obedient as Father wishes her to be. For example, sometimes she invites people over for dinner without Father's consent. Mother sometimes gets Father to go to parties when he, at first, does not really want to go. Mother works hard to say the least. She has to take care of four boys, be heedful of Father's needs and wants, and manage the house by herself with no help from Father. Mother likes to be around people. She likes to go to parties and invite both friends and new people over for dinner. Clarence is the last main character mentioned. Clarence is named after his Father. Clarence is intelligent and finds ways to get around some of Father's beliefs. For example, Father does not believe in professional sports, nevertheless, Clarence and his brothers invented a code to know which of their favorite teams won. George, one of Clarence's brothers, would go downstairs and read the scores of the baseball teams in the newspaper, he would then play the piano and if he played a sad song their favorite team lost, if he played a happy, lively tune, their team won. Clarence shows up early for breakfast so that he can have a watch Father bought for him. Clarence shares a passion for numbers with his Father. Clarence is the oldest of four boys. He is Father's favorite son for this reason. He has to be the exact image of his Father. George is the first minor character. George is the second oldest of four boys. George learns most things easier and faster than Clarence. George is prompt and on time, consequently, Father bought him a watch. Julian is the last minor character. Julian is the third oldest of four boys. Julian is spared some of the responsibility of being like Father because of his age. All of the characters would be appealing to most people. Most of their actions were humorous. Most people can relate to what happens in their family. The author seems to respect the characters, especially Father. The author never talks badly about Father, he does, however, sometimes convey his disagreement with Father's actions or beliefs but never talks disrespectful in any way. The character's actions were believable. They live in a family, which is run by a somewhat stubborn and arrogant father who is set in his beliefs and traditions. Most readers could find themselves in some of the characters' shoes. The characters acted differently in each setting.

There were two settings described in the book. During the winter, spring, and fall the family stays at their normal house in New York. During the summer the family moves into their home in the country, near a small town called Irvington (page 31). The story takes place during the late 1800's and early 1900's. The narrator of the story described the settings clearly.

The point of view was first person. The narrator is a character in the story, Clarence, and uses first person pronouns. An example of first person pronouns would be: "I got used to it after a while, but the first time I went I was frightened." (Page 95). The mood of the characters would intensify as the change of settings took place.

The most prominent mood in the book is anger. Father would get angry when something happened the way he did not want it to happen. Father broke the coffeepot when the coffeepot did not taste right to him (page 105). Father would get mad and curse when Mother held a party. When Father's horse would slow down while riding, Father would stick it with his spurs. Father would get angry when Mother spent too much money on things that he had not deemed appropriate. Father grew extremely angry when the iceman failed to show up one day. He went down to the office of the iceman and demanded that they bring a truck full of ice to his house immediately. Most readers would feel happy when they read the book because the characters' actions are humorous. It would be enjoyable to most readers to read about Father's amusing antics. Father's mood throughout the book helped the author define his purpose and message.

The author's purpose was to entertain the readers of the book. The author's message was that a father can be stubborn and still care about his children. The author's message, in most cases, is true. The author's message is agreeable. Many fathers can be stubborn, yet caring at the same time. Many people can relate their lives to the lives of the characters in the book. Some of the readers' parents may be stubborn and arrogant like Father. The main theme of the book is humor. Father does many humorous things throughout the book. When the Father hired a Japanese cook, Father found the food to be too Oriental and declared himself poisoned (page 61). Father would curse at the phone when it rang. Father would be tricked into giving Mother money. Father would give Mother six dollars to buy a new coffeepot. Mother would buy a new coffeepot for five dollars. Mother would inform Father that he owed her one dollar because she saved him one dollar. Father would give Mother the dollar. The author's message was matured and formed completely during the climax.

The climax occurred as Father ages. Father is getting older and is beginning to notice some of the characteristics of old age. May of Father's friends have died. Father is around seventy years old. It is found that Father has high blood pressure. A doctor recommends to Father that he take medicine for his high blood pressure. Father refuses to take nay medicine. Father remains active throughout his older years. Father lives to be ninety. The climax helped shape the evaluation and recommendation.

The evaluation and recommendation for this book is based on its contents. The book was worth reading because it is humorous. Father's beliefs often conflict with the actions of the other family members and it is comical to see how they work their differences out. If Father finds something that he does not like he breaks it or curses at it. If Father eats something that he does not like he declares that he has been poisoned and will die soon. This book would be recommended to a friend. Others would find Father's antics comical. It is fun to watch the family get around Father's beliefs to go on with everyday life.

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