A child in the Dark and a Foreign Father is a short narration about a man and his relationship with his family. The protagonist of the story is a poor carpenter who lives in a small hut with his family – his wife Emma and three children. They live in a drought area, somewhere in Australia where a New Year’s Eve is “a hot night in midsummer.”
The narrator doesn’t give a detailed description of the protagonist – the reader knows little about his appearance, but instead of it, the author describes his footsteps – “these sounded more like the footsteps of one pacing steadily to and fro, and thinking steadily and hopelessly—sorting out the past”. From these words the reader understands that this man experiences hard time in his life. Then we are sure in it – we read about the place he lives in, find out about his family – the madness of his wife, about three children, one of which is ill, about constant conflicts caused by Emma (his wife) and about his endless work at home.
Furthermore, the narrator describes Nil’s life in dark colors to cause reader’s sympathy – this poor man deserves it like anyone else. His hard life path is complicated, there is no one to help him out and he definitely feels lonely. As well as his children. Of course, he tries to talk to them and spend some time together, but it is not enough – they need mother’s love which they never get. The story is didactically psychological: it teaches people to sympathize, to care about their family, and love them because we are the ones who create our happiness.
