Compass and torch

Compass and torch

The short story, “Compass and torch” (2003) by Elizabeth Baines, is about the relationship between father and son. We follow this boy on his adventure expedition with his father. His parents have recently been through a divorce and he has not seen his father for a long time. Meanwhile, his mother has gotten into a relationship with a guy called Jim. The boy and his father are leaving the residence and are now heading for a “macho-trip”. Along the way the boy asks several questions and is clearly the one responsible for conversation. They talk about all the equipment they have brought along. The story ends with, them setting up camp and falling asleep.

We start in medias-res. We hear the story from the boy’s point of view, but with an omniscient narrator. The boy is very thoughtful and he is analysing his father’s steps to the letter. We can see in the text, that his father clearly has some issues with building up a relationship. He takes the boy on a trip, which is in his favour. Which his mother points out very well: “Mad, she was calling it, as he knew she would. “Mad! For the first time in four months he has his eight-year-old son and what does he plan to do? Take him camping up a mountain! Talk about macho avoidance activity!” The boy hears this while getting a torch from his room. He is aware of the situation, but ignore his mother’s worries. - Mostly because of his excitement. But when the leave the house and the boy waves goodbye to his mother, who is in tears, he shortly has a moment of discomfort. Although he have been looking forward to the joy of leaving with his father. Jim feels sorry for his father. His mother is very concerned and has told Jim: “No hope of him relating to his son on a personal, day-to-day level! No hope of him trying to RELATE to him”.

The relationship between the boy and his father has a lot of tension. – In my opinion. As I have been through the same thing. The boy is very mature and he is very concerned about the trip. He considers everything before conversing. Every word has been thought about in his head. And that takes some maturity. To read a situation and handle the way he does. The father is only answering briefly and there is an undertone of annoyance. There is kind of a barrier, which has to be destroyed before the relationship can be natural. The story is short, so we do not really know if this barrier gets smaller. As a father, you have to take responsibility for your child. - Also through a divorce. Their relationship has to be as it was before and through the commitment of the son, we can see how it was better, before the four months without meeting. His father seems very stereotypic as a man. It is described in the text how his father opens a gate very violently. Almost shocking for the boy, but he handles the situation very well.

We hear a lot about his equipment in the story. The boy asks his father if he has the same is he etc. Which can symbolize the wanting to be as his father. Again the father responds briefly and does not compel new conversation topics.

The boy and his father arrive at the mountainside and a horse shows up. It is generous and pops it head in the windows of the car. It is a she and it is very intrusive. The father is defencing and wants the creature away from him. He bashes to it a couple of times. That can symbolize the parent’s relationship. She is way to concerned and overprotective.

The father acts really cold and he is probably feeling down. Just before they left the house, the boy’s mother said: “Now you will be careful? Don’t go camping too near the edge”. She does not trust him and wants him to be more responsible. In the end what really matters, is if the boy had a nice trip. And we can see that by following the boy’s thoughts and his actions. And that is really the message in this story. This is a relationship from a son’s point of view. The story is for parents. I can imagine that this story has a personal aspect from Elizabeth Baines’s life. She could have been in the same situation as the mother or the father. She could have written the story to the father of her child, reflecting her son’s feelings.

Actually when I was about three years old, my mother found a new boyfriend. They were very young, around the early twenties. They have just had my oldest little sister. My mother’s boyfriend adopted me and he became my new father. He was a good man, but from time to time he was a bit harsh. – not very pedagogical. I remember one night. I could not sleep and it was past bedtime. I went out of my room and into the living room. I was told to go into my room even though I just wanted to get some water. He was big and his voice was deep. I went into my room again, now scared and crying. He was like that from time to time, but only to me “the new kid”. The day after, my mother wrote him a letter. It was a story about my day and my thoughts. My father read it and he actually started crying. And that was a turn-around in my childhood and now I have a much better relationship to my father.
I think that Elizabeth could have had the same thoughts as my mother, and the short story is a warning to the father about pulling himself together.