“Arm Wrestling With My Father”

2 Pages 487 Words

No matter how much we all do not want to become our parents, it is bound to happen. The essay “Arm Wrestling with My Father” by Brad Manning suggests that it is inevitable for a father and son to switch roles as they get older. It is a part of growing old. You are destined to grow older and with growing older comes a point where you can grow weaker.
In many father-son relationships it is hard to show affection. As men, they must keep to their “macho” standards by showing they care in different ways. Manning talks about how his father knew nothing about the sport he was playing but still insisted on showing him how it was played. He says that his father did not try to communicate through simpler forms of love, he would try to show him through sports and “manly” ways. Even though he showed him the wrong way to play lacrosse, the son knew that this was a way his father was showing him he cared and that he loved him. Pretending to know something that you know nothing about is certainly love. Another way that they showed affection was by arm wrestling. Ever since he was a child he and his father would arm wrestle. In paragraph 1 Manning writes, “But Dad would always win; I always had to lose.” Throughout his teen years he would always lose. Time goes by quickly and with time people age. His father grew older and weaker, as he grew older and stronger. The inevitable did happen. Manning is switching roles with his father. Becoming now, the stronger man. Although he is stronger Manning knows that he should not take that for granted. The main provider of the family is now weak and unable to show his strength. This is a indeed a role switch. Manning is now becoming his father.
The strong and caring person that was once his father is now himself. In paragraph 12 Manning states, “our roles have begun to switch.” This is becoming more clear when his father offers him a hug before boarding the plane. That love has become more c...