My Father In The Navy Essay, Research Paper

Analysis of My Father in the Navy

This poem begins with a daughter describing her father. She talks about her father as

though he is a poster child for the military, describing him as Stiff and immaculate.

The narrator reveals how much she looks up to her father by her statement, a round cap

on his head like a halo. She goes on to describe he fathers position in the military.

Line 4 says, he was an apparition on leave from a shadow-world, this line talks about

how he was a ghost on leave from the shadow- world, meaning he was working on a

sub and the shadow- world being a deep ocean. This midshipman was in charge of

monitoring the ships engines and course. Line 9 goes on to talk about how the family

kept watchful eye out for their father to return. Line 12 states, for the flash of white our

father like an angel, this line has a picture of a sub coming into the bay and the family

knows that it s there by the rotating white light atop the sub. The father is so special to

the family, it s like an angel coming down from heaven when he returns. In line 14 & 15

the poem describes some kind of void the father had in his life that the family somehow

fulfilled which kept him coming back from duty. The last lines of this poem suggest that

the father was never at home. When the father does return from duty it s like a dream for

the family.

This poem was a very pictorial piece. I could see every line and how the daughter

and family felt about the father. The poem shows how much the family loves their father

but it doesn t seem like the father enjoys returning home. The family seems to be

struggling with the role the father plays in their life?