Welding with Children

On a surface level, “Welding With Children” addresses the hardships associated with raising children both in poverty and alongside modern technology, and how the generational gap between grandchild and grandparent affects that relationship. Bruton is frustrated that his grandchildren are being raised without affection for the outdoors, religion, or a sense of respect for elders. Bruton’s eventual solution for this is to raise the children himself whenever they are in his care, reading them Bible stories and instilling a love for activities beyond watching television. This process involves character growth Bruton’s part, as he must change his lifestyle to center around their well-being. Bruton cleans up the yard and resolves to take the children to church weekly, taking initiative rather than letting life pass him by, as was his habit. In the end, he has a sense of direction and feels accomplished with what he has contributed to his family, which is otherwise notorious in the small-town community for not accomplishing much and being perceived as distasteful.

The story’s language and setting reflect the South, a place very familiar to the author. Tim Gautreaux has reclaimed Southern stereotypes and repurposed them for an endearing yet satirical story. The diction is often grammatically incorrect or uncommon, and Bruton’s yard littered with car parts and wife who goes to the casino every Tuesday paint a vivid picture of the family at the heart of the story. The kids’ names—“Moonbean,” “Nu-Nu,” “Tammynette,” and the strikingly ordinary “Freddie”—contribute to the story’s humor, imbuing the opening paragraphs with a welcoming and straightforward narration. This narration addresses the reader directly, in the first person and with a close psychic distance. Thus, the reader is privy to Bruton’s thoughts and feelings, and is also spoken to directly as if being told a story from his perspective.

Bruton’s transformation across the story involves rising to his newfound familial role despite how he raised his daughters, who are deemed too far gone by Mr. Fordlyson. Bruton’s criticism of his own daughters is extensive, and he often fails to overtly acknowledge correlations between their lives and his role as a parent. He additionally places blame on them in numerous ways that are potentially out of their control, such as the way that he criticizes his daughters for working so much that they don’t have time to teach the kids about religion, as though this certainly is an option. Separately, Bruton realizes that he had relied on his wife to teach his daughters religion, and she never had time because of how much she had to work. Therefore, his daughters never learned about religion because he never instilled it in them, instead assuming his wife would find the time to do so. There is only a vague sense of accountability for the past in Bruton’s character arc, such as when he says that he “guesses” his daughters’ lives may be his fault, though he doesn’t understand what he could have done differently. Bruton, though good intentioned, often falls short of acknowledging the role he played in all of the things he critiques about his family.

Additionally, Bruton’s lifestyle contributes to what the reader understands about the way he has raised his daughters in years past. Initially, he is slightly flippant about his responsibilities and annoyed at being stuck home with the children while his wife is at the casino. He wonders how he can fix his daughter’s bed frame with “four little kids hanging on [his] coveralls” (1). His attempt to weld in the presence of his grandchildren exemplifies this lax attitude. He eventually realizes that he should “hold off trying to weld with little kids around” (2); his lack of awareness that childcare and dangerous work don’t mix well suggests that he was not hands-on when his own children were young, again alerting the reader to what kind of father he may have been. All of the changes he makes for the grandchildren were not changes he deemed necessary for his own children, despite his current criticism of their lifestyles. His own children have still become distasteful to Bruton despite the direct role he played (or chose not to play) in raising them. In this way, Gautreaux subtly critiques the animosity sometimes present between generations, shining a light on the hypocrisy and ignorance present in Bruton’s beliefs. In particular, Gautreaux makes the generational gap between Bruton and his grandchildren, and Bruton’s efforts to overcome this, a point of both conflict and humor in the story. Bruton’s colorful portraits and exaggerated descriptions of his babysitting experiences heighten the humor of the story and lighten the material for the reader.

While Gautreaux draws subtle connections that portray Bruton in a negative light, the story still showcases humanity’s capacity for change and redemption. While Bruton was not the best father to his daughters, he decides to change his family’s trajectory by making a renewed commitment to invest in providing guidance for his grandchildren. The story’s structure follows a typical redemption arc, tracking Bruton’s growth as he comes to terms with his role as a grandfather. Learning that the grandchildren were insulted is the inciting incident that catalyzes Bruton to reflect on his daughters’ upbringing and the future of his grandchildren. He favors his small town because of his belief in The Importance of Community, though it is ironically the cruelty of the community that makes him self-reflect and desire change. When Bruton confronts Mr. Fordlyson, a local deacon who yelled derogatory words at him earlier in the story, about his inappropriate behavior, the man doesn’t show remorse.

In the second half of the story, Bruton assumes The Responsibility of Parenthood. He becomes engaged in teaching them, shifting from babysitting to reading Bible stories, turning off the TV, and finding a book that will engage them. His decisions to clean his yard and to begin taking the children to a church that has programs for them underscore this transformation. Bruton accepts Mr. Fordlyson’s view that he failed to teach his daughters morals. The grandchildren, however, serve as a second chance for Bruton. Bruton’s act of emptying his yard additionally holds important significance in the context of the story. Bruton is, in many ways, a hoarder who holds onto derelict and broken-down items including engines, cars, washer machines, and lawnmowers. This surfeit of broken items reflects Bruton’s feelings of failure and regret, as well as his negligence. Rather than clean his yard, Bruton allows the trash to accumulate and rust on full display to the town, signifying his lack of self-respect. Bruton’s neglect of his yard parallels his treatment of his daughters who have also “fallen” from neglect. Indeed, the namelessness afflicting the daughters (except for one) is one of many ways the text reflects the daughters’ neglect.

In addition, Bruton’s backyard is not just an eyesore but also a dangerous landscape for his grandchildren. This is evident when the grandchildren use Bruton’s Oldsmobile engine, which hangs from a willow tree, as a swing. The playfulness and innocence of the children belies the decay and dangers signified by the engine, a contrast that is heightened by the children’s naivety. Though Bruton recognizes this as a “sad sight,” the children themselves are ignorant of the pathos the scene evokes. The willow tree itself also provides an important contrast with the engine. The natural imagery of the willow tree is a far cry from a decaying, greasy engine that Bruton hangs from a metal chain. Throughout the story Gautreaux juxtaposes such images of mechanical and artificial decline with that of the natural environment.

In particular, trees play a prominent role in “Welding with Children,” symbolizing growth and progress. When Bruton converses with Mr. Fordlyson, the two men sit under a pecan tree, and at the end of the story Bruton has Nu-Nu face the newly uncovered, and thereby visible, trees in his yard. The removal of the engine from the willow tree, and Bruton’s promise to set up a tire swing, are an important step forward for Bruton as well as his grandchildren. The empty space of Bruton’s yard is a tabula rasa for his grandchildren, signifying the possibility of a new future away from the detritus of the past.

Religion is symbolically and literally woven throughout the story. The story makes use of religious allusions and imagery to reinforce Bruton’s redemption arc. Bruton has an epiphany under the “Tree of Knowledge,” a name that references the tree from the Garden of Eden, and he receives advice from a character who, as Moonbean claims, resembles a picture of God in the bible book that Bruton reads to the children. Bruton’s transformation is evident by his actions at the end of the story: his clearing the yard and his change of religious denomination. Thus, while Bruton reads stories about God giving mortals tasks and goals to prove their faithfulness, Mr. Fordlyson gives Bruton the task of fixing up and reclaiming his role in life, encouraging him to overcome the difficulties he will endure and informing him that this struggle is The Price of Redemption.

Addressing religious topics in a more direct sense, such as when Bruton decides to teach the Bible stories to the children, the story shows how Bruton elevates religious books of the Old Testament to be literal, combatting the concerns of realism that come from the kids. The kids also ask about God’s perceived cruelty in banishing Adam and Eve over one mistake, creating the Flood, and asking Abraham to kill his son. This is Bruton’s ideal sense of entertainment, contrasted with the television, which he deems violent and inappropriate. Bruton does not critically draw connections about his belief system and the kids’ perceptions of the stories, maintaining that they are the foundation the kids need to succeed in life. This use of religion provides a humorous comparison to the reader—Bruton delivering the stories of all of the most shocking and cruel moments in the Old Testament to a group of children, while the children call out the cruelty or make direct references to pop culture in response.

By centering the narrative on Bruton’s perspective, Gautreaux also keeps the narrative rooted in everyday life. Bruton takes the reader through his day with his grandchildren, from driving them to Pak-a-Sak to making them snacks. Many of his actions seem mundane, yet this emphasis on the quotidian reinforces the theme of the story: Change is not necessarily achieved through big dramatic acts but through small meaningful actions. This is evidenced by Bruton’s steady adaptation to his paternal role, which eventually pulls him away from his solo lifestyle. The story concludes with Bruton discussing building a new tire swing with Freddie to replace the engine. While the reader cannot know for sure if Bruton will continue playing an active role in his grandchildren’s lives, this conversation with Freddie implies he will and concludes the story with a physical demonstration of Bruton’s transformed life.