Matt Gordon is Charlie’s father. He is not a happy man because of his emotional traumas and disability to be a leader in a family. He has a dream to become an owner of a barbershop but when he reaches this goal, he doesn’t feel that expected satisfaction. His attitude to the son is not tender because he cannot perceive the boy as an ordinary man. The dad is devastated due to the kid’s illness, and he cannot cope with this trauma. Matt’s relationship with the wife is not an ideal one. The couple quarrels a lot, and it shows that their family is not capable to give the poor boy love.
Matt Quotes
The most important thing had always been what other people thought-appearances before herself or her family. And righteous about it. Time and again Matt had insisted that what others thought about you wasn't the only thing in life. But it did no good. Norma had to dress well; the house had to have fine furniture; Charlie had to be kept inside so that other people wouldn't know anything was wrong.
If I didn't understand what was happening at the time, he says, then it doesn't matter. I'm no more to blame than the knife is to blame in a stabbing, or the car in a collision. "But I'm not an inanimate object," I argued. "I'm a person."He looked confused for a moment and then laughed. "Of course, Charlie. But I wasn't referring to now. I meant before the operation."Smug, pompous—I felt like hitting him too. "I was a person before the operation. In case you forgot—""Yes, of course, Charlie. Don't misunderstand. But it was different..." And then he remembered that he had to check some charts in the lab.
Matt in the Essays
Author: Teresa Nelson