New York City, Grand Central Station, people are moving at a pace most of the country has no experience with. After all, it is the city that never sleeps. John Cheever’s “Reunion” suggests that an attitude of arrogance and pride from a parent can ruin the ability to spend quality, one on one time with a child who is expecting and seeking that from a father. In this case it was the straw that ended the relationship according to the last line of the story, “I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father.” (Pg. 256)
Charlie’s parents divorced three years ago and he had not seen his father since. He called and made arrangements to meet with him for lunch while traveling through New York City. He was excited to see him again. He reached out to his father for a visit while passing through the city. He loved his father and was sure he was going to “be something like him.” (Pg. 256) Without being totally aware of it Charlie may have had some pre conceived ideas of how the lunch date would go that aren’t uncommon expectations for children to have of a parent. I’m sure he expected to have a nice lunch with some undivided attention and catch on up some of the time they have missed apart from each other, otherwise why would he have made an effort to see his dad. Unfortunately that’s not exactly how the story unfolded. There are several reasons why Charlie’s expectations were not met.
The first indication that the there is trouble in the air is when the it is mentioned that the fathers’ secretary responded with the details of the reunion, that implies that there isn’t much of a personal, father/ son relationship between the two. A secretary handles a lot of responsibility for employers but some things should be done by the person themselves. Responding to a son that hasn’t been in your life for the past three years whom is reaching out for love would certainly be one of those times. His father was on time which gave the idea that there was some type of importance to the visit. When the two first encountered each other it wasn’t a warm fuzzy embrace, more like a hand shake and pat on the back. It was close enough of an encounter for him to get a whiff of the alcohol on his father’s breath and to notice the after shave. Because of the short amount of time the two had together they quickly moved right into heading to a restaurant. That’s when all the madness started. Immediately after walking into the restaurant Charlie’s father was demanding, loud and disrespectful. The waiter wasn’t taking the abuse from him. He told him, “I don’t like to be clapped at. I think you’d better go somewhere else.” (Pg. 255) Charlie followed his father to a different restaurant. They lasted at the next venue long enough to get drinks served and enough time to have a small conversation about sports before the father acted out again. The same behavior of rudeness and disrespect caused his father to leave that restaurant and go to yet another place. He seems to very bossy and controlling especially when he says things like, “Don’t argue with me, just do as you are told” (Pg. 255) to complete strangers. It got so bad that the fourth and final restaurant they attempted to eat at wouldn’t even seat them. They claimed that all the tables were reserved.
Through the entire visit Charlie hardly spoke any words. His father was too busy shouting orders and demands to employees at the places they were trying to have lunch. Reference was made at three of the four places that the father was always ordering alcohol. That may have been a factor of the unmanageability that was going on with his personality. They met in the train station at noon and Charlie smelled whiskey on his father then so that tells us he had been drinking in the morning. After the last unsuccessful attempt to have lunch it was time for Charlie to get his train home. There was one last episode of his father’s personality aimed at the clerk at the news stand. During the encounter between the two Charlie had to leave. The last words he said before turning around was, “Goodbye, Daddy.” (Pg. 256)
It leaves a sense of sadness that Charlie’s father couldn’t be present in the moment for the visit with his son. It costed him a relationship with him.
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