The story of the Labrador disaster appeared to be a metaphor to the life
of the father. I say this because first of all, it is mentioned that he has
been on his own adventures and has been thinking about recording his
experiences, but was never able to finish any. There are also many comparisons
as to what the father would have done if he was instead in the place of the explorers.
In addition, this may furthermore be some form of reflection on the father’s
lie. As we can see, the protagonist always asked the father what would have
happened if he was one of the explorers. The father also says what he would
have done if he was in the shoes of the explorers. Perhaps, this is a sign of
his regret, of things he could have done better in life, now that he has
experience and is able to look back on everything. Also mentioned in the story
is the Indian that warns the explorers to not go forward as there are “bad
spirits,” and the dream in which “God” shows them the way home. This I feel is
symbolic to the life of the father in that he was given spiritual advice and
chose to ignore it and go the other way.
Another point that I found interesting was with respect to the first
essay, The Bad News. In that essay,
the protagonist makes it a point that she does not like to hear bad news before
she has had her breakfast, especially first thing in the morning just after she
has woken up. In this regard, we can compare the entire book to that of a ‘day’,
but that days is the life of the protagonist. The following story, The Art of Cooking and Serving, we see
that there is some good news in that a baby is born and the protagonist has a
younger sister with the following stories exploring the effects of such an
event on her life. In this vein, the delivery of news, it seems rather fitting
that the essay on the suffering, the stroke and death of the father comes near
the end of the book, or, at the end of the ‘day.'
-Sachin A. Heerah
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