Sunday in the park - bel kaufman?

Answer 1

It is a short story about "The Man". Women traditionally look to men as their protectors , Bel Kaufman makes this his major target. The story expresses how society now has softened "The Man".

In the story an unnamed women and her husband, Morton, take their child to the park. Everything was going fine until another boy at the park threw sand at the woman's child. This resulted in a standoff between Morton and the other boys father. Morton backed down from the fight because the boy's father is much larger than Morton. The wife narrates the story and she describes him by "his great arms." This may also lead back to that theme Kaufman was trying to get at, that the male must be the protector. Because Morton backed away from the fight, his wife, showed resentment at the end of the story, when their child was throwing a fit. He threatens to discipline him and the wife makes the remark "you and who else." The line "you and who else" is significant because that's what the other boy's father told Morton when Morton had first thought of fighting the other boy's father. This only bolsters Kaufman's theme of primal lust and aggravation. Even though Morton was clearly outsized, his wife would have respected him if he had been crushed by the other man.

Answer 2

Why do you think the wife confronts her husband with the same words used by Joe's dad in the park at the end of the story