Reunion is a short novella written by John Cheever. It is being told in past tense by the main person Charlie, a young boy whose parents are divorced and who tells us about the last time he saw his father. It is a text about family issues, alcohol problems and the relationship between a father and his son.

In the beginning it is clear to everyone that before Charlie met his father this last time he really missed him. And he had therefore wrote to his father to ask if they could have dinner together. We are then told that Charlie got a reply from his father’s secretary. And this seems a bit strange to me. Because when your own son writes a letter to you, I would assume that the father himself would apply the letter. So to me this shows that first of all Charlie’s father is a businessman who perhaps does not have time for his son. Or he is simply just a real idiot who does not care about his son.

But later in the story I get the feeling that Charlie’s father really miss Charlie. But he does not really know how he shall behave towards Charlie. So this could also be the reason why he led his secretary write to Charlie.

We then realize that at this point Charlie has not seen his father for three years, and he has therefore become almost like a stranger to Charlie. He does not know his own father. This indicates that something has definitely gone wrong between Charlie’s mother and father. But he looks up to his father and wants to spend time with him just like any other normal boy would. As he says it is his own flesh and blood and Charlie actually wants to be like him when he grows up. He is proud of his father. Very normal. But unfortunately his view on his father totally changes in the one and a half hour they spend together.

Since they do not have much time together, they immediately go to a restaurant, where the father wants something to drink. And this is where the father starts becoming rude and really boisterous. He shouts at the waiters in both Spanish and English. The waiters obviously do not like that and refuses to serve him. So him and Charlie then leaves. As I read the story I got the impression that Charlie’s father has got a drinking problem. And furthermore he also seems pretty arrogant.

His behavior only gets worse and worse. All in all they visit four different restaurants, and they are only served once before Charlie has to head back to the train station to catch his train. It is obvious that Charlie’s impression of his father has totally changed after this meeting. And he does not like his “new” father. The last thing Charlie says to him is goodbye, daddy. After this he decides not to visit him again.

I think this is because Charlie wants to remember his dad as a cool person he can look up to. And he definitely do not want to remember him as a loud, drunk an arrogant man. And that is the reason why he will not visit him again. He do not want his “picture” and impression of his father ruined any more than it has already been.

I get the impression that the fathers life has gone totally wrong the last few years. He seems to be an educated and noble man. He has a polite language when he is not shouting and cursing. And as I can see he does, besides English of course, speak both Spanish and Italian. According to Charlie he also looks really gentle. And he has a good job. So something has definitely gone wrong in his life. And my theory is that it started at his work. He seems to be a businessman who works a lot. He might then have got into trouble at work. This has then been reflected on his private life. On his marriage. Things have gone wrong at home. And it then ended up in a divorce. Then afterwards it has just escalated. And he has now got way to many problems. He cannot deal with all of them. One of the problems he has got is his drinking problem. Another one is the fact that he has lost the connection to a lot of people that means a lot to him. Therefore I think he feels lonely. And the persons he miss the most is of course his son. But he do not know how he should act towards his son. He feels like a stranger.

So the title says reunion. But it is quite clear that the reunion did not go as planned. It were definitely not a success. So I guess it was more a goodbye than a reunion.

Living With Strangers

Living With Strangers is a short novella about a person, who I am pretty sure is a woman, who used to live in a small Town in Minnesota. In this town almost everyone knew each other, and they always greeted everyone they meet even though they did not know them. The person then moved to New York. And moving to a big city were of course a major change, and the woman felt like a stranger among the New Yorkers. The woman then tells about all the different persons you will meet in New York, and about how odd and outrageous some of them behave. And also how you should just ignore these people.

The situation of this woman is in many ways similar to the situation that Charlie is in. His life has changed radically too. He had a dad he loved, looked up to, and saw as the coolest person in the world. But then the divorce came. And after he had not seen his dad for a few years he became like a stranger to him. Just like the woman in Living With Strangers feels like a stranger among the people in her new life.

And just like the woman tries to use the pretend-it-isn’t-happening law, and tries to ignore all the strangers, Charlie also deals with his problem with his unfamiliar father by just ignoring him when he decides not to see him again. But even though Charlie tries to “cut of” his father and forget about him, it is clear to everyone that his father means a lot to him, and the fact that his father has changed has really affected him. Just like that all these strange people also affects the woman in Living With Strangers even though she tries to ignore them.