Critical Response 2: by the creek

Colleen Mundy
Dr. Tony Barnstone
ENGL 302
March 3, 2009

Critical Response #2
By The Creek
I think that the idea of little boys turning into their fathers is a very interesting topic to write about. The pressures that are sometimes put on children to live up to what their parents have done in their lives or their parents’ expectations of them is immense. Children can feel defeated and emotionally damaged if they do not meet their parents’ expectations or live up to what they feel they should achieve. On the other hand, growing into the person that your father is as a young boy, is another story.
I feel like that saying, that little boys grow up to be their fathers, is very stressful and puts too much pressure on kids to sometimes be something that they are not. In By The Creek, the little boy puts on his father’s head in the expectation that he will grow up to be like his father. By the creek, half a dozen other little boys come down and stand with him, with their own fathers’ heads on their shoulders. This expectation to grow up to be your father is extreme.
The mother in the story also struck me. she was not at all surprised that her husband’s head was on her son’s shoulders, more so she was afraid that her husband would wake up, find his head missing and be angry. I think Yourgrau does a fine job portraying the fact that the idea of a boy turning into his father is not only expectable, but expected.