The Boat

2.a) The narrator does not idealize his father or his way of life. This shows in many circumstances. The narrator proves this by not doing what the father wants him to do, i.e. the narrator goes away to become a teacher instead of a fisherman. He does still love him though, as it proves near the beginning of the story with the narrator still waking up at 4:00 am to "go fishing" with his father.

3.a) The boat in this story could be said to represent the narrator maturing from a young child to being a person who now has a family of his own. It could also represent how the narrator has grown away from his father.