Weekly Reflection on "Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year" by Raymond Carver

• Dank (adjective, -er, -est.): unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and, often, chilly: a dank cellar.  (Stanza 1, Line 1)

• Perch (noun):  1. a pole or rod, usually horizontal, serving as a roost for birds. 2. any place or object, as a sill, fence, branch, or twig, for a bird, animal, or person to alight or rest upon. 3. a high or elevated position, resting place, or the like. 6. a post set up as a navigational aid on a navigational hazard or on a buoy. 7. British . a. a linear or square rod. b. a measure of volume for stone, about 24 cubic feet (0.7 cubic meters). 8. Textiles . an apparatus consisting of two vertical posts and a horizontal roller, used for inspecting cloth after it leaves the loom. 9. Obsolete. Any pole, rod, or the like. (verb): (used without object) 10. To alight or rest upon a perch. 11. To settle or rest in some elevated position, as if on a perch. (Stanza 1, Line 4)

In the first stanza of the poem, "Photograph of My Father in His Twenty-Second Year" the narrator, also considered to be the son, sets the setting of the poem. Portraying his father in an unpleasant place he says, "Here in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen." (1) Also, he mentions a bottle of beer, "...in the other a bottle of Carlsbad Beer," (5) which will come up later on in the poem and be a significant part to the true, deeper meaning.

In the second stanza, the narrator describes the look and personality or "portrayal" of his father. Describing him (the father) as posing to be "...bluff and hearty for his posterity." (8) It almost seems as if the mood of the poem changes in this stanza, because the son now makes it seem as if he looks up to his father; instead of looking down on him like he did in the first stanza.

In the third stanza, the narrator makes it seem like everything he has described his father as, is an exaggerated lie and not actually describing who he really is. He says, "But the eyes give him away," (11) describing perhaps his dad's deceiving eyes that hide a lot behind them, such as his alcoholism. Finally, the son (or narrator) admits that he, too, has an alcohol problem just like his dad and almost blames his father for his problems, "Father, I love you, yet how can I say thank you, I who can't hold my liquor either..." (13).

After analyzing each stanza separately it is evident that perhaps the narrator (or son) is writing the poem about himself, and sees himself as his father when he was in his twenties. He does not seem to be proud of his problems, but admires his father for having such a bold personality when he was his age. Maybe the son wishes that photographs of himself would portray a confident, bold man like his father seemed to be, instead of a man struggling with alcoholism. Also, the son seems to have hatred towards his father and blames his father for his struggles with alcohol because of witnessing his father drink for so long.