"Sticks"

My second post is about the story "Sticks" the second story in Saunders' Tenth of December. This story is less than two pages long making it the shortest story in the collection by far. The story centers on the narrator's father who erects a metal cross in his family's front yard and decorates the cross in strange ways. At first, the father decorates the cross to fit different holidays. By the end, he strings sticks to the cross and hangs all kinds of weird things from the six strings. These sticks give the story its title and represent six offspring, leading me to conclude that the each stick represents a child and the large metal cross represents the father.

It's a weird premise for a story but Saunders makes it interesting. With no explanation for why the father builds the crucifix, I was left to assume that the father is an eccentric, the kind of person who does weird things because it makes him happy. The story reveals that the father is somewhat of a helicopter parent who limits how much ketchup his children eat and shrieks at one of his children for wasting an apple slice. What a freak.

I can't help but wonder where Saunders got his inspiration for this story. Why did he choose to write a story about this weird father who obsesses over a crucifix in his yard? It reminds me a little of my own father who gets a kick out of wearing weird clothes and being eccentric because it shocks other people. I got the impression that my own father is similar to the father in "Sticks". While the father does weird stuff, it seems like its always in the interest of his children. In only two pages, Saunders gave me a character who reminds me of my own father. I feel like I know this character on a personal level even though I don't know much about him. This story was enjoyable in spite of its short length which made it easy to re-read. I probably read it at least eight times. 

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