Putting Daddy On analysis

This story is intriguing because as a college student, I am constantly reminded of the increasing cost of my tuition and the amount of debt I will have after graduating. It makes me wonder from time to time: Is College really worth it? Growing up, college was highly regarded by my parents and therefore the thought never crossed my mind. However, as time went by, I started having a totally different outlook with regard to college education. Wolfe brings out a similar thought through the use of Ben as a character in the story. Wolfe uses some of Ben’s friends to speak against the scrutiny faced by college dropouts. This is not the greatest building in the world… But I mean like I was going on about it.

” referring to the last quote (Wolfe 285). At this point it seems quite obvious that Aywak is trying to speak up for Ben to his father. It can be inferred that Aywak is implying: So what if Ben is not a prestigious college alumnus? It is not like it makes him any less of a human and this applies to all college dropouts. Wolfe makes Aywak a voice for college dropouts by explaining that this personal lifestyle decision does not determine the substance of one’s character. He leaves the reader with the puzzle and burden of choosing for him/herself which kind of life is the best; enjoy life and have lots of fun during the prime years, work hard during the prime years in order to have a prosperous and bright future, or find an equilibrium between the two (working hard and having fun).

Due to this argument, some sort of debate is created when reading this story. Due to the fact that parker is a funk that is hopeless, he cannot make decisions whether to assist his son or just to sit down and watch his son maneuver his path through life. Due to this, the reader is given the authority to make a decision as to whether parker made the right choice by his son or whether he made the incorrect choice. The world is turning to be a global village, technology has made life easy and information is flooded everywhere for everyone to access; The opinions and statistics with regard to professionals determining lifestyles and social morals by dictating the right and the wrong, the healthy and the unhealthy- this is the social trend in the world today.

This is well written out by Wolfe in the essay, “parker understands the situation but is however embarrassed, and this is the root source of the problem” (Wolfe 283). In some life cases, people are forced to assimilate consciously to certain norms they know are not what they expect simply due to the fact that they seem to be the only option. When such individuals see others living a lifestyle that is different, jealously crops in and is then expressed in form of misunderstanding or severe disgust. Throughout the essay, I came to discover that parker has some concussion and doubt with regard to his social choice the moment he decided to call his hat a “crash Madison avenue helmet”. By acting contrary to social and societal norms and taking a totally different life outlook, Ben completely reaffirms his father’s doubt and the only thing parker can do is to ‘put daddy on’ or even play daddy and express his disgust.