Question

In "Water Never Hurt A Man" by Walter E. Edmonds, how does the author build the character of the son and what type of person is he? The second question is how does the author build the character of the father and what kind of character is he? The third question is how does their interaction and relationship help drive the narrative of this story? Please answer quick. VERY IMPORTANT!!
Here's a link to the short story...
https://harpers.org/archive/1930/12/water-never-hurt-a-man/

Answer 1

Taken from the short story “Water Never Hurt A Man” by Walter E. Edmonds, the author presents two important characters in the story, the boy and his father. ANSWER TO FIRST QUESTION: The boy, whose name is John, is the son of George Brace. John is portrayed as an easily scared child at the beginning. Throughout the narrative of the cold, stormy night, John is always frightened of each stroke of lightning, bolts, and thunders. There are some passages from the text that show this character of George’s son: “At each stroke of lightning his small back stiffened. It was his first year on the canal and he was afraid of storms at night.”/ “…when lightning split the darkness he shut his eyes tight and pulled his head closer into his coat collar, waiting blindly for the thunder.”. ANSWER TO SECOND QUESTION: As regards George, John’s father, he is portrayed as a determined, strong man and he is not afraid of picking a fight with other men. In fact, George is described as the “bully of the Black River Canal” by some people. He constantly encourages John to take control of some things on the old Bacconola, even though these things scare him. For instance, the following excerpt explains this idea: “Get on back, you little pup. Fifty-nine's just round the next bend. Take your whip and tar him. Or I'll tar you proper.”. ANSWER TO THIRD QUESTION: Their relationship changes over the narrative and helps develop it. At the beginning, their relationship seems distant maybe because of John’s fears. His father only gives him instructions and do not pay much attention to John. Towards the end, John’s character changes a little after his fight and starts communicating with his father a bit more maybe because his father noticed how his son has overcome his fears and became a stronger man or a bully as his father. The author refers to John’s transformation or change in attitude in the final dialogue of John with George: “G: "Where's your whip?" J: "I guess I left it a while back. I guess it was in that kind of scrummage we had. I guess it needs a heavier whip anyhow. I guess a man couldn't spare the time going back for it." G: "Sure," said George.”