Analyzing Bradly Udall's Short Story 'The Wig'

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Losing the life of a loved one at such a young age can effect the way a child develops and acts. Bradly Udall, the author of the short story, "The Wig", shows this by taking a young boy and putting him in this situation. The father of the child is an important figure because he narrates the story giving details of the strange behavior committed by the son. The short story, "The Wig", portrays the son of a father who is acting strange due to the fact that he has lost his mother, his father is grieving, and because he is only eight years of age. The loss of the boy's mother takes a toll on him and the way he acts. Udall makes it clear that boy lost his mother when he refers to "the accident" from the father's point of view. The child acts strangely by digging out a used wig from the trashcan and wearing it while eating his breakfast. This wig proves to be symbolic of the mother in the father's eyes, and…show more content…
He is raised to act based upon what he sees and knows. Since the father is dealing with the fact of losing his loved one, it is consequently the same for the son. The father and his son are similar in the fact that they do not know how to react to each others actions. The boy does not even flinch when his father speaks to him about the dirty wig upon his head. The eight year old putting his smooth arms around his father's neck proves that the boy's strange behavior is partially due to the father's behaviors. Being so young and having to deal with the death of his mother takes its toll on the boy's actions. He doesn't know any better than to dig out the wig from the trash because he is only eight years old and motherless. His father seems to lack the responsibility to tell him no in situations because he doesn't want to hurt the boy anymore than he already is. If the boy was older and more mature when he lost his mother, then he might not be susceptible to behaving so

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