Sunday In The Park by Bel Kaufman - Essay Example

The tranquility of the afternoon, however, is spoilt when another boy also playing in the sandbox, later identified as Joe, throws a spade-full of sand at Larry. When Morton's wife and later Morton himself try to intervene, they are forced to beat a hasty retreat when Joe's father, a hulk of a man throws down the gauntlet. What seems like a fight between two small boys or between the two families actually transcends into a conflict within the Morton family itself. It reveals deep fissures in the relations between Morton, his wife, and Larry, with the wife's feelings towards her family changing from compassion to contempt and from pity to resentment, in what is primarily an intra-personal conflict.

Although the wife has done a good job in suppressing her conflicting feelings in the park, tension arises as she realizes the fact that her husband is meek and While in the park, the wife's reaction toward the incident is contradictory. When Joe's father speaks up the first time, the wife "[feels] a sudden weakness in her knees as she glanced at Morton", reflecting her concern over what she intuits is an impending crisis. She wants Morton to stand up in her defense, while on the other hand, she also worries about him feeling, "a tenderness for her husband and an impotent rage against the man [Joe's father] for involving him [Morton] in a situation so alien and so distasteful to him [Morton]".

As the situation escalates, she is fearful that a fight might occur. However, at the same time she is not averse to the idea of a fight, "She pressed her trembling knees together. Would there be violence, fighting How dreadful, how incredible. She must do something, stop them, call for help". At this point, she could have been the voice of reason and could have diffused the situation by pulling her husband away and leaving the park immediately. Instead, she waits and watches, hoping against hope that her mild-mannered husband would take a stand; wanting to see in her husband, a brave and strong man willing to protect his family, no matter what the consequences.

It is what she has always expected of her son, "she wanted Larry to learn to fight his own battles", and in retrospect, also expects the same thing from her husband. Sizing up the situation, and coming to the conclusion that a scuffle would not solve anything, Morton turns away from the man, which is something that the wife cannot reconcile to. As they leave the park, the wife's contradictory feelings prey on her mind, which fuels her resentment and heightens the tension between her and her husband.

As they move towards the exit, "With all the dignity she could summon, she pulled Larry's sandy, perspiring little hand, while Morton pulled the other", she cannot bear to look at Joe's father because she feels ashamed of her husband. She is ashamed that she has such a coward for a husband and son who is equally lily-livered as to allow themselves get bullied by Joe and his father without fighting back. After they leave the playground, she feels a kind of relief, but at the same time she and Morton both realize that the incident has ramifications beyond two little boys fighting in a sandbox.

They both recognize the fact that Morton is afraid to fight someone who is bigger than he is and is not man enough to fight either for his