Thoughts on "Friday's Father"
Since we all listened to this piece I'm not going to map out all of the places that Ledbetter takes us during Friday's Father.
That said, I will comment on her use of fairytale images to describe people and things. Here are a few:
-"fairy godmother" with "walnut holding a tiny golden spinning wheel" to describe Miss Sterling, seamstress
-"the giant's hand" (3x's), describing that perfect climbing tree
-"Snow White", describing the dead woman on display at the funeral
-"some great cyclops", her father yelling at her
-"bruised up old Lion", her elderly father sleeping
When I listened to this piece I was struck by the fact that she used such a matter-of-fact tone to deliver the stories of her drunk father. It seemed strange when spoken as the impressions of a child. But looking back, I wonder if those fairy tale elements are Ledbetter's way of expressing what a child could not yet understand. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, they did carry over throughout the entire piece which was consistent if not connective (neologism).
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