Be Who You Are Essay, Research Paper
Be Who You AreDavid Masello speaks of a relationship between him and his father. Through a visit to his father’s house in Florida a part of himself is revealed to his father. I believe that he writes this story to show how the relationship between and man and his father is affected when the son is homosexual. Masello in my opinion wants this story to show as a guide for males who have a fear of their secret. After the life of the son is revealed the father proves that his love endures forever. Masello takes what seems to be one of his regular vacations to Florida to visit his father. In the story he and his father are very close. Masello takes great joy in giving his father contentment in a world of worries. He wants to give his father nothing but peace and love. These times are moments he cherishes. The father shows nothing but happiness that his son has joined him. We instantly know of their great relationship they have when the first words he utters to his son is, “I hate to ask, but when do you have to leave?”(458) They enjoy the company of each other by sharing common interests, such as the civil war. They recite civil war battles to regain the closeness that they have always had. While being with his father and realizing the great relationship and love between them he feels happy, for he has also found love at home. He has regained a feeling in his life that he has longed to feel in many years. He has another man that he has fallen in love with in New York. He does not tell his father for he is hiding the fact that he is a homosexual. I believe that deep inside he thinks that he will lose the love of his father if he knows this. The father over hears a conversation between the son and his new love. Instantly the father is taken by the tone of this conversation. He sees flowers sent by this man and now he can here a phone conversation that seems to be a bit unusual. He immediately asks his son “What is there between you and that friend? Tell me, is he straight?”(459) The father tries to ask his son another question that we all imagine would be if he were straight. He however already knows the answer to the question he hasn’t even asked. Masello visits his father in Florida. Florida is well known for many gay people. I imagine the setting of this story took place there for that reason. I lived in Fort Lauderdale in South Florida before moving here. The society as a whole there is much more understanding to the gay community due to the abundance of gay people in that area. The father probably dealt with this better than Masello thought because it is not a new concept to him. He is surrounded by gay society everyday woven in with his society The father and son later go on to spout off the battles of the civil war. This shows to the son that his father has not changed at all towards him because he is gay. His love will endure forever for the boy because he is his father. He knows of the society of today and accepts his son’s place in it. He wrote this story to tell people who are afraid of whom they are not to be. He eventually faced himself to his father. His father proved his love at that time by going on as if nothing had changed, for he is still the same person that he was yesterday. The writer accomplished his goals that he set when writing this. To make people realize they must be whom they are.