Family Dynamics: Father and Son

Castillo shows us the different sides of his father, almost as if he is on the outside observing him. Yet his narrative does not separate himself as someone who is trying to understand his father. I feel like the narrative surrounding his father does not take any specific negative or positive tone, rather one that is admirable of someone that they feel is above them, despite any flaws or mistakes they have. An example of this can be found in chapter 8, when Castillo is describing the different structures of the room and uses that metaphor to explore themes of compartmentalization. He continues to explain that his father can be easily stimulated into either ends of being happy and angry, and that Castillo also realized that he has the same habit. To me, the contrast he makes between himself and his father is more on the realm of realization and acceptance, rather than denial or any other negative aspects towards his father. This helps us understand more about Castillo and that his ideas about his father is of understanding about how he was shaped, and that Castillo has the same conflict of being shaped by an environment much different than his fathers. 

In a much different sense of understanding and acceptance of how Castillo sees his father, he also studies him. As he was helping preparing him for an interview in El Paso, Castillo tells us how he studies his father: "There was the broader image of my father, which I knew well, and then there were the smaller subtleties that I had forgotten over the years, some of which I never knew. Even in the short moments we'd already had together, I could already observe he didn't like the cuffs of his shirt to touch his wrists, he kept a pen in his shirt pocket with a small memo pad filed with names. Between both the large details and small, they composed the entirety of my father. I was content with having only part of him" ( pg 1956/4755 on Kindle). The way that Castillo observes and describes his father is very much disconnected, at least in this passage, from himself and their relationship. The habits that Castillo describe are not connected to their relationship as father and son, yet it can help us understand the way Castillo views his father; as a being whom he can only understand through observation. The last sentence eludes to the fact that his father is still a mystery, and with that in mind, he accepts that he cannot possibly understand or unravel identities of his father that are strange to him, or not apart of their relationship. 

Questions:

1) How do you classify the relationship between Castillo and his father? In what ways does the narrative about that relationship help us understand larger themes in the text?

2) Is Castillo's view of his father healthy? Can it be viewed as too objective/subjective?