Putting Daddy On

Putting Daddy On

          Tom Wolfe, graduated from Yale University and the author of 15 novels, depicts a relationship between a son and a father that live a very different lifestyle in the essay, “Putting Daddy On”. It contrasts the poor and the rich, young and the old, and right and the wrong, which causes Parker, the father and Ben, the son to lose their bond. Traveling down to the Lower East Side where only poverty exists, Parker, dressed fancily in uptown clothes brings a friend to retrieve his son, who dropped out of Columbia and chose to be a hippy. From a perspective of a frustrated and a guilty parent, “Putting Daddy On” allow all teenagers in a stage of rebellion to know what their parents might think. Although Parker speaks to Ben as if he is mocking his of life, it is revealed in the essay that he understands why Ben is acting the way he is. Parker also reveals that although he didn't speak to Ben much when they net, there were not much he could have said and that he tried the hardest he could. It shows Parker’s understanding of Ben growing up as an independent and letting go his control over him.

          Although it is not clearly stated in the novel, the audience can be assumed to be the teenagers and the parents who are under conflicting relationships. Tom Wolfe achieved his purpose through using various rhetorical devices such as colloquial language, perspective, and visualization. Using colloquial language allowed the readers to understand what type of character Parker was. Through his use of words, we were able to identify his humorous and sarcastic side. Wolfe’s interesting use of perspectives easily draws the attention of many readers, because although a lot about Parker and his visit to the lower east side is revealed, there are a lot of things about the situation that is ambiguous because of the nameless narrator. However, Wolfe’s use of visualization of the settings allowed the readers to see the big differences between the father and the son. Although the author’s purpose was rather hard to find, through many rhetorical devices, Tom Wolfe did a successful job in portraying the conflict between Parker and Ben.

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Work Cited

"Movie Reviews: 'The Nut Job,' 'Big Bad Wolves'" NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

"Tom Wolfe." Tom Wolfe. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.