Can we love our battering father?

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Can we love our battering father?
Authors use literary device to emphasize on different viewpoints as well as themes and characterization. The devices are important as they give a clearer picture of the author’s representations In ‘Can we love our battering father?’ Gordon relies on various literary devices to show utter despair and hopelessness. The mother and children live in fear of the father given his violence, but it is hard to leave the situation given the emotional turmoil that they go through, and accept the situation based on the illusion that things would get better. In particular, allusion and diction depict haunting despair that is all too common in Gordon’s childhood.
The allusion to battery begins with the title of the book, where the father is depicted as being violent. This sets tone for further development of the story, where the father’s violent’ episodes bring disharmony at home. Further description also highlights on the notion that domestic violence leads to psychological distress for the victims (Pearson, Harwin & Hester 43). Domestic violence often breeds unhappy families, and creates a cycle where alcohol and alcohol induced violence are common (Cabrera). However there is an attempt to show that the affinity to violence was a way of lashing out at past oppression, with violence meted on the wife as the father has no power to avenge for childhood oppression (Gordon 9). The father is prone to control and dominate over the family, and he takes no responsibility or blame. For instance, the father breaks a vase but then goes to accuse the wife as being the guilty party (Gordon 7).
Gordon also uses diction to show utter despair suffered by the family members who experienced violence. The tone of the story is dark and this is chosen for the reader to have a better understanding of the situation. The description of the mother as harmless loving and gentle stands in contrast to that of the father (Gordon 5). The author uses exaggeration to emphasize on diction, where the mother is described as innocent to the po...