Commentary on Dorothy Parker’s Essay

â€Å"Mr. Durant’ is a prose about a man, who he had promised his children they could keep a dog but seems to no longer want to do so. He promised so while on their back he is trying to kick the dog out of the house. He does is on their back because he wants to remain the authority figure of the house who does nothing wrong. On the other hand, to his wife he gives stupid reasons like â€Å"all the males in the neighborhood will be running after her† and â€Å"first thing you know, she’d be having puppies.† Mrs. Durant is not very educated and also very ingà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nues and so blindly trusts and believes whatever her husband tells her. She idolizes him because she does not read and is not very educated and therefore her husband’s knowledge might impress her a lot. The family relationships where the father is the dominant figure remain the same through the whole passage. 2. Chronology/time  Dorothy Parker has written this passage in such a way, tending to give actions one by one, making so the piece more intriguing and interesting. However, she often goes backwards and forwards when describing Mr. Durant’s den and character to give us a deeper understanding or certainty of his character. However, time in either case is significant but not essential and does not affect directly the themes of this passage. 3. Themes  Some themes implied through the passage are:  Authority is one of the main themes in this passage and Mr. Durant conveys this authority very easily. His wifes lets him do so, because she thinks that he is very educated and in consequence his actions and word is always right. This shows another theme, the ingenuity of Mrs. Durant who blindly believes everything her husband tells her. The relationships between these two characters seem very cold and unpleasant, not only because there is no agreement and understanding between this couples there is no evince of affection as well. Dishonesty is another important theme is this passage, which Mr. Durant is clearly characterized by because brutally beguiles his children on their back. Sexual perversions 4. How literary features convey/enlarge the themes  The prose has many adjectives which are very useful in strengthen the meaning of the themes since the prose is very descriptive. For example, the two adjectives â€Å"insatiable reader† and â€Å"indefatigable collector† show that although he wanted to seem as tireless reader, he is very unintelligent because is easily manipulated by the advertisements. A comparison in this piece is â€Å"young woman with wings like a vampire bat† which is very significant because in my opinion this is another hint of Mr. Durant’s sexual problems. 5. Point of view/ Tone  The passage is told from the third person point of view and that is the narrator, Dorothy Parker. She is more informing rather than evaluating because she tends to rely more on the facts leaving so up to us to interpret them in our own way. Because the atmosphere is not humorous at all, this shows the seriousness of the narrator’s attitudes towards her subject. She presents the main character, Mr. Durant as a very cold, distant and selfish person. The tone of the passage is very serious and desperate (fruitless) because the main character, Mr. Durant has all the power and his word for the others (his wife and children) seems to be a rule. This is shown when after he asks his daughter if he had ever â€Å"broke a promise†, she replies â€Å"No Father† but â€Å"conviction was not hers† whish shows that even she wasn’t convinced, she was obliged to reply so because of fear that he might get angry or react. Parker obviously do esn’t have a high regard for Mr. Durant at all, however using irony she enjoys mocking his attitudes of superiority and of the one who is so full of himself that wants others to believe that he â€Å"he has never broken a promise yet.† 6. Structure  The passage falls into many short and long paragraphs. Usually, the short paragraphs are made of dialogues while the long ones are mainly descriptive which might signify the greater importance of the descriptions. The two longest paragraphs are mainly about two subjects: Mr. Durant’s den and books. This shows that he is the main character since everything is mainly about him and also because he is always the one who gets the word. The short paragraphs in the first page have only three lines. They are short maybe because the piece is carefully described and avoids telling everything at once to let the reader get the themes one by one, making it more interesting. However, the dialogues although short, are very significant in understanding the personalities of the characters. 7. Lexis (language)  The language used is formal and this is because the issue that is being discussed is serious or at least that’s how the atmosphere is conveyed to us. This formal language has a positive affect on the piece because it is appropriate with the message that the author is trying to transmit, that of authority and stereotypes. The language is also particularly descriptive and therefore the author tends to give the themes by hints in the description. The language used by Parker in written in an ironic form towards this character, which although she doesn’t seem to admire at all, she enjoys mocking his attitudes of superior and of the one who is so full of himself that wants others to believe that he never â€Å"breaks a promise.† Parker uses satire which is a form of exposing of foolishness within a society through ridiculing them and that is what she does with the character of Mr. Durant. 8. Specific Images  Mr. Durant is clearly shown as the authority figure in this piece. An image that indicates this is † he jerked his head backwards† which shows that his order is not only an obligation to his wife but he does not even need to say it. Mr. Durant might not even be as knowledgeable as he wants to seem. There are two reasons why I think this. Firstly, the fact that his â€Å"books were lined up behind the glass of the bookcase† might show that they were not even used and were there as decorations. Secondly, as we notice in the passage, he seems very impatient and narrow minded because does not allow others to have their word yelling â€Å"Quiet!† to his daughter while he interrupts his wife who for once was about to protest against her husband, saying â€Å"Now you just leave all that to me.† This shows disrespect and impatience to listen to others and therefore might not even have the same patience to read a book. I personally, from this piece got the feeling that Mr. Durant is not a very sane person because there are many controversies on his character, like he tries to be the perfect father in his children eyes who â€Å"has never broken a promise†, while on their backs beguiles them being very ambidextrous. 9. Rhythm  The rhythm in this passage is very irregular for the reason that it is continually moving from â€Å"crescendo† to â€Å"decrescendo† form, creating so anxiety and tension to the readers. There is a high tension in the beginning of the passage because the author starts this passage with the word â€Å"Quiet!† which strait away gives a kind of conflict and makes the atmosphere very dramatic. Then, the author jumps into descriptions, going into a â€Å"decrescendo† form for a while. On the third part of the passage, again we have a â€Å"crescendo† in rhythm because the tension increases, especially when Mrs. Durant says ‘But the children, They’ll be just simply†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which in my opinion is an initial and tiny bit of revolt against her husband’s opinion.