Characters

When analyzing the short story “Reunion”, an important section of your analysis should be dedicated to characterization.

In this section, we have outlined some important points for you to consider when analyzing the main characters in the short story, the boy, and his father.…

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The boy

The boy’s name and age are not mentioned. The author may have chosen to do so because he may have wanted to imply that the situation he describes can be applied to more than one person. We can easily sense that the boy’s situation is not unique, that there are many other boys or girls who suffer because of their parents’ divorce or because of the alcoholism of one of the parents. The following phrase tells us more about the boy than about the father:

“He was a stranger to me - my…

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The father

The father is not named but is carefully described by the boy. He sees him in a positive light, unaware of the father’s problems. He is described through direct characterization:

“He was a big, good-looking man”
“He put his arm around me, and I smelled my father the way my mother sniffs a rose. It was a rich compound of whiskey and after-shave lotion, shoe polish, woolens…