Saturday Climbing

A detailed Summary of Saturday Climbing

At first, after reading Saturday Climbing, I found it just to be a simple plain story. A story about Barry climbing a cliff and having flashed back about his daughter. But when I went over the story a several more times, I notice the cliff is actually representing the relationship between Barry and his daughter, Moira. It was a story that shows a single father perspective towards his daughter.

W.D. Valgardson uses much symbolism in his story, Saturday Climbing, to help reader gain a greater understanding of his message. He uses symbolism in two important areas: objects that have symbolic value, and setting, which relates the relation between father and daughter. Many object in Saturday Climbing have important symbolic value. For example, the "chock nut, the wire loop, the carabiner, the rope", represents the relation between Barry and Moira. "Kfragile as they looked, would hold ten times his weight." Like a rope although their relation seems fragile, but it's stronger then it seems.

The cliff itself is another important symbol. It shows their relation, as time pass by. "Then, unexpectedly, the surfaces smoothed; the places where he could get a secure hold were spread farther and farther apart." This quotation reflec

When Barry is stuck half way up the cliff, it represents that Barry has encountered a problem with Moira. "If he fall, he would drop twenty-five feet to the piton, then twenty-five feet past it before his rope came taut and held him. There was, because of the elasticity of the rope, a chance that he would ground out." This is also representative of the risks Barry is willing to take for his daughter in order to salvage their relationship. Barry would go to extremes for his daughter. The exert also shows that one fall and it could be all over. This is the case in the climb and it is the same in parenthood. A fall could prove fatal, and would lead to failure.

"For a moment, he suffered vertigo, and the cliff seemed to sway as if in an earthquake." This is symbolic of the fact that Barry is afraid to go on because of the uncertainty that surrounds the future (especially concerning his daughter). He is fearful of changes that my come as a result of his daughter's independence and its impact on their relationship. Barry doesn't want his daughter to become like the "frizzy-hair girl". The swaying of the cliff could also represent the shakiness, and precariousness of their relationship, like when they fight and argue.

Another important aspect of the story is the use of flashbacks with the "frizzy hair girl". This character seems strange at first, but it is not until her significance to the events in the story does it become clear how important she is. Her two quotes lead Barry to change his attitude towards his approach to raising Moira. "The caged bird proves nothing but the power of the captor", and "The world seeks balance; extremism begets extremism", help Barry realise what he must do. By caging the bird, and denying it its freedom, it only feeds its hunger for it. When the bird is finally let out, it will try to get as far away as possible. The girl with frizzy hair was this bird. She had an over-protective father, and she decided to go across the country to get away from his control. This helped Barry understand that the more he tries to keep Moira in the "nest", the more resentment there will be. The other quote says that extreme actions have extreme reactions. The more Barry tries to control Moira, the more likely she is to rebel. If Barry continue on controlling Moira's life, he would fall like Ron. He would fail to be a father and end up like the frizzy hair girl's father. The best thing Barry can do is to minimise his "protection". The "frizzy hair girl" represented what could happen to Moira, this triggered a turnaround in Barry's ways. In a sense, the "frizzy hair girl" acted as a catalyst.

In conclusion, I think this story refers to most family. Children will always grow up and leave their parents some time in life. Parents should support them and be happy instead of holding them back. For example, my brother just came back from Japan. When he left Calgary, my parents were pretty worried about him having trouble being independent, but my parents supported by brother all the way. But if my parents have held my brother back, he might have lost a chance to work in Japan. Indeed, a parent caring for child is important, but how much they are caring is even more important. Too much might not give them a chance to mature, but too little might ruin their life. So parents have great responsibility in looking after their child, so much responsibility that it might give them stress which might effect their life.

The last bit of the story is demonstrative of the fact that Barry has a different role as a parent from now on. Barry is now there to provide a safety net should Moira fall. He will be there ready to catch her. Other than when his help is asked for, Barry is now and observer watching whether or not he did a well enough job in raising his daughter. Moira begins setting off climbing a new section of the cliff, and this time she will lead. She starts out boldly up the unknown cliff, ready to ta

Some common words found in the essay are:
Barry Moira, Moira Moira, Moira Barry, Moira Kfragile, WD Valgardson, , Japan Indeed, frizzy hair, Moira Throughout, relationship barry, daughter moira, barry moira, hair girl, little girl, barry daughter, barry willing, story barry, frizzy hair girl, tensed ready lock, moira's independence, lock shut ready, hands tensed ready, ready lock shut,

Approximate Word count = 2680
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English