Essay 1: Analysis Of Text

The essay “Arm wrestling with my Father” is written by Brad Manning for the college students and it expresses the relationship of sons and fathers. The essay is very simple and easy to understand for the people of this age having a clear purpose that how physical contact was used as a way of communication and expression of love and affection. It explores the relation of father and son and its development over time.

There are different lessons a college student can get from the essays as per his or her understanding. The basic one is the importance of a father son's relationship that how fathers are affectionate towards their children and use different ways to express their feelings and love. In the beginning, Manning declares that they never shared their emotions with each other. As he grew older, he realized how much his father loves him and used little acts to express his love and care toward him. The physical bond that his father had with him from the initial stage was the way of communication he used.

Another meaning that the reader can extract from the essay is that ‘Actions speak louder than words.' The physical connection that Manning's father developed with him was the way of communication and teaching Manning the important lessons in life which may not be that effective the other way. It was the way his father shared his love from the physical relationship such as playing baseball and arm wrestling and at the end hugging him and telling him "I love you." As Manning grew older by the physical contact he had with his father made him realized that his father had become weal protecting them throughout his life and saving them from the storms of life. He realized that how his father has been the protector for the whole family and how much he has done to keep them safe.

Small things in life matters. Initially, Manning was not aware of the importance of the game his father used to pay with him, arm wrestling. As he gets older, he realized that how his dad kept on communicating with him. He thought he is not having a good and strong relationship with his dad and it is only confined to arm wrestling.

The most important message that the author is trying to convey is the importance of father son’s love and what fathers do out of that love. Father’s love must be appreciated and credited because it is always there. It may change its forms, but fathers are always there to protect their children and family by doing the small acts. For instance, Manning's father would never write to him, but he will attach newspaper articles to tell his mom to be careful {Manning, "Arm Wrestling With My Father", 2017, 112}.

Fathers play a central role in the household and have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders. From managing the household expense and providing their children with all the necessities of life they protect their family from all the odds. Manning’s father not only takes the responsibility of earning bread and butter for the family but at the same time teaches important lessons to his son in different ways. In addition, he acts as the protector and guard of the family.

The author wrote this essay to describe his feeling for his father and the relation he had with him. He further wanted to tell how at a certain point of time he realized that winning does not matter all the times. At this moment he realized the love of his father and how he has been protecting him throughout his life in his strength. The essay illustrates the relation of son and father and how fathers use different ways to express their and affection towards their children. Moreover, life is not about winning all the times sometimes losing teach the life lessons.

Questions:

Why Manning took a lot of time to realize them Manning of physical contact his father had with him?

Why his father used the physical contact instead of verbal communication to teach his sons lessons and express his love?

Works Cited

{Manning, "Arm Wrestling With My Father", 2017}