The Mechanics of Being by Jerald Walker

"The Mechanics of Being" discusses the writer’s father and his relationship with the writer. The essay begins with the author's decision to write about his father, who became blind. The author details his father's life. In the end, he realizes that he has been writing about his father all wrong, because he focused on his father's blindness rather than his father himself. The essay ends with his father's funeral where the author tells a funny anecdote about his dad, deciding that if he is to ever write about his father, it will start with that story. "The Mechanics of Being" addresses poverty and broken families. It also describes the process of writing a biography, the gathering of facts, while along the way discovering the beauty and complexity of life. The author's purpose in writing this essay is not to describe his father's blindness. Writes the author, "Chapter after chapter I focused on the mechanics of blindness when I should have focused on the mechanics of being" (Walker 187). The author shares his true purpose, which is his belief that people should not be defined by one thing. This message is universal and is intended of all adults and teens. The author achieves his purpose through in mes res. The story begins with the narrator struggling to write a book about his father, then goes into a series of flashbacks about his father's life, and returns to the present. Because of this, the reader is gradually given information from each flashback and realizes the diversity of the father’s experiences.  It also uses a particularly important anecdote at the end, describing a time when the author was angry at his father, but his father laughed because it was a joke, and the author could not help but laugh along. This anecdote embodies the idea that blindness should not define the story of the writer’s father. The narrator and author, Jerald Walker, received a MFA in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies. He has written for the Literary Review, Oxford American, and many other sources. He is the founder of the literary journal, The Bridge, which has won over sixty national awards. Mr. Walker teaches English at Bridgewater State University.

 

 

 

Life is...

 "Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."-Khalil Griban

Source: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/melanie/4-ways-to-find-happiness-inspiration-from-within.htm

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