Robert Hayden the Narrator of

Robert Hayden The narrator of Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" reflects on his father's inability to express love. As a child the speaker misinterpreted his father's sternness and austerity as indifference. Ironically, the speaker remembers "speaking indifferently to him" even though his father had purposefully woken himself up early on a Sunday to heat up the house so that his son could get dressed comfortably (line 10). The father's cold, quiet demeanor mirrors the chilly winter weather. The imagery of cold that pervades Hayden's poem parallels the father's demeanor.

Yet just as the winter means no harm, neither did the narrator's dad. As he reflects on his father, the narrator recalls the wordless ways his father expressed his love and thus derives a newfound admiration and appreciation for him. When he was a boy, the speaker feared "the chronic angers of that house (line 9). In fact, the poem opens with suggestions of possible abuse: the "blueblack cold" could be a metaphor for a bruise (line 2).

Similarly, the narrator recalls his father's "cracked hands" as if to say that his old man would crack the whip or slap him around (line 3). The word "cracked" is also a euphemism for mental illness. The boy's fear of his father turns out to be unfounded, however. Although the father's hands ached they were not hurting because he was abusive but because he was a hard laborer. Like his hands, the father's cracked and rough demeanor reflects his thankless job.

The anger that chronically pervaded the house was not directed at the narrator, although as a boy he believed that was the case. On the other hand, the anger he sensed was due more to his dad's thankless toiling. No one expressed appreciation for his hard work, not even his son. The father worked hard to feed his family; he was not a selfish man.

The narrator becomes aware of his father's selflessness when he recalls "those winter Sundays" when his dad would warm up the house for him so he could get dressed more comfortably. Moreover, the narrator remembers that his father used to shine his Sunday shoes. Those small gestures went unnoticed by the young boy, who viewed his silent, cold dad as a formidable family figure. The father's selflessness is further underscored by the first two words of the poem: "Sundays too," (line 1).

Reflecting on his childhood, the narrator remembers that even though his father worked like a dog all week, he still wanted to wake up early enough on Sunday to spend time with his son. Ironically, the young narrator could "hear the cold" better than he could hear his father (line 6). His father was as silent as the snow outside, but the young boy was too immature to understand his father's reticence. Children frequently need displays of affection for reassurance and security.

His father could not offer verbal love to his son. As a result, the young child learned to fear his father. He believed that the father's silence stemmed from anger directed at him, and did not understand that his dad directed his resentment at the world that had dealt him such a tough blow. To have.