The Farther You Go

     The second story I chose to read in this collection is called "The Farther You Go". The story tells the tale of a man, his wife, one of his daughter's and his daughter's husband. The narrator of the story is a man named Hank. He's been married to his wife, Faye, for 30 years. He has two daughters, Karen and Julie, and a son, who remains unnamed throughout the story. The story focuses around one of his daughters, Julie and her husband, Russell. We find out that Russell has hit Julie, and Julie wants her father to come over to her house. Originally, it's unclear why she wants her father there, but we find out that she wants him to kick Russell out of the house. Throughout the story we find out a few things about Hank: his father died of some sort of cancer. He recently had prostate surgery and fears that like his father, he is going to die soon. He also cheated on his wife once, with a woman in Pittsburg. Ironically, when he kicks Russell out of the house, he sends him to Pittsburg.
     This story is quite interesting. It's not exactly dramatic or full of action, but it has a subtle irony and has hidden messages that make the story really hard to put down. There isn't a dramatic ending that you anticipate, it ends very simply with uncertainty. It leaves a lot for the reader to figure out. It's unclear what exactly is happening at the end of the story. It's unclear how much Faye really knows about Hank and it's unclear if Hank is going to live through his prostate cancer. Everything is left unknown, which makes the story really stick in your head. It really left me wondering what everything in the story represents. The quote that really spoke to me the most in this short story was, "Then, suddenly, she's in my arms and I can't think about anything but the fact that she is my daughter. If I'm not going to be much good at blaming Russell, at least I'm certain where my loyalties must be, where they have always been." I think this quote is really well done and shows that despite his hatred for sharing things with her, Hank really does love his daughter. My favorite part of this story is the relationship between Julie and Hank. It seems like Hank hates talking to his daughter and doesn't want to be involved in her life at all. But in this quote, we see that there is much more to the relationship then that, and he actually deeply cares for and loves his daughter in a really beautiful way.