27 pages • 54 minutes read
Tim GautreauxWelding with Children
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Allusion
The story alludes to the Bible to invoke the concept of values and morality against the influence of society and pop culture. Specifically, the story references biblical stories like that of Abraham and Isaac and Noah’s ark to emphasize the power of sins and punishment. While Bruton tries to teach his grandchildren about obedience and sin in the Bible, the grandchildren have trouble distinguishing these Biblical stories from the movies they watch. The children’s references to movies such as Conan the Barbarian as well as to figures such as Elvis Presley and O. J. Simpson show the extent to which they have soaked up the pop culture surrounding them. Their knowledge, however, comes at the expense of the morals and values Bruton wishes to impart on them. The children have little conception of consequences and punishment. As Bruton notes, the children watch rental movies where “people kill each other with no more thought than it would take to swat a fly” (13).
Simile
Often Bruton uses similes to provide whimsical descriptions of the people around him. He compares Mr. Fordlyson to “chicken” and Nu-Nu to a “melon” and a “loaf of bread.” Bruton also uses simile to describe his thought processes and the changes in his mindset. For instance, Bruton’s conversation with Mr. Fordlyson leaves him with a “thought forming in [his] head like a rain cloud” (16). The comparison of the thought to a rain cloud emphasizes the significance of Bruton’s epiphany as the thought releases him from the heat and humidity of Gumwood. The fact that this thought remains unnamed and unarticulated only increases its power in the narrative. In many ways, Bruton’s transformation occurs beneath the surface of the text. At the end of the story, Bruton cleans his yard and speaks to Freddie, but he does not narrate or describe his mindset in light of his newfound realization.
Sarcasm
Bruton uses sarcasm throughout the story, often to humorous effect. When reflecting on his time in college, for instance, Bruton wonders if his teacher sent the class’s papers back to Pakistan “for his relatives to use as stove fuel” (3). Alongside this, sarcasm and humor are used as a means by which Bruton evades responsibility. For example, Bruton would rather mock his college teachers than reflect on some of the deeper reasons for his decision to drop out of the semester.
