Words Can Affect People Without You Knowing It

Author's note: this is a cause and affect of an argument that Moses and Adam have in the book April Morning.

Sometimes people don’t realize the power that words have. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast there is a great example of this. Adam’s father, Moses, does not believe Adam is yet a man. He would often say things like “Are you willing to start a family and make enough money to live on your own?” and Adam would get upset because he didn’t feel that these were necessary to being a man. Moses doesn’t realize how these words affect Adam but it really makes him second guess himself and almost feel he is not wanted. When you are talking to some you should always make sure they understand what you mean completely in the right way.

Adams dad doesn’t intend to hurt his son’s feelings, but he tends to get carried away with things. He already is a little harsh on Adam because he wants him to become a man but he does not think it should happen so soon. When Moses says these things he believes that it will prepare Adam for manhood and does not realize what is really happening with Adam. In Moses’ mind he believes that by not acknowledging that Adam is growing up, he is doing his job as a parent in helping him prepare.

Since Moses wants this he tries to treat him like an adult and Adam cannot see his intent so he takes his words the wrong way. This makes Adam believe that his father does not want to accept the fact that Adam is growing up from childhood to manhood. Adam does not appreciate this and feels when Moses acts this way he does not love him. This is not true but Moses is naïve to seeing how his son reacts to his words.

Being naïve is almost human nature. This is why when we speak we have to be very careful on how the listener takes your words. You cannot just say something like “I’m not inviting you over to my house today.” You would have to say why; otherwise the person would probably think that you don’t like them anymore. In the book April Morning by Howard Fast, there are many examples of one person not understanding the other which later on turn into fights.

The Way You Think of Things

Authors note: This is an assigned piece for class on point of view.  It is on the book April Morning by Howard Fast.

When you start reading a book do you ever really think about the biases? In books there are many biases depending on whose point of view the book is written from.  In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast, it is written from the perspective of the son (Adam). From his perspective, he makes his dad (Moses) seem like a really bad guy. Moses and Adam get into a lot of arguments because Adam feels like he should be treated like a man but his dad doesn’t.  Adam influences the reader to believe that Moses is a horrible father, but this is not true. The point of view of a book can be deceiving and it all depends on whose perspective is being given.

One way that Adam’s point of view does influence the readers is when Adam wants to go to the committee meeting. Adam is almost sixteen but the dads of the community usually wait until their sons are adults before they let them go to the committee meetings. Adam and his father got into an argument because his father, Moses, wouldn’t let him go. Moses was being a little harsh but from Adam’s point of view it made it seem like he didn’t love him anymore. These two quotes show how Adam made it seem like he hated him but he really didn’t, “'He seems to have gotten the idea that you hate him', said Adam’s mother."(pg. 45) “'Hate him! Of all the crazy notions! Of all the idiotic ideas! There a boy, my first-born son-why, how could any man love a son anymore than I love that boy?' said Moses."(pg. 45) They argued and argued but in the end he almost seemed happy. He got to go walk with his girlfriend during the time he would’ve been at a committee meeting.

On the other hand, if this book was written from his mom’s point of view (Sarah) it would be very different. Sarah has a very different perspective than most people in this book because she is on the “outside” of almost everything like, the arguments, committee meetings, and many other things. One of the ways she stays on the outside is by staying out of the arguments. She just sits and listens to it all happen around her. There would be a lot less bias if it was written in her perspective so the reader would feel obligated to choose a side unlike in the original book where you almost have to choose Adam’s side.

As you can see the point of view makes a reader automatically think “oh well he seems so mean I’m going to choose the main characters side.” In the book, April Morning by Howard Fast there is a perfect example of this. The narrator’s (Adam’s) point of view convinces you to think that his dad is a horrible guy, but these things are just bias. All books that are written in the perspective of someone who is in the book have some sort of bias. Whether it’s about a protest or even an argument at home, the perspective of the character will always create some sort of bias.