Welding With Children - Character Comparisson

In the story Bruton notices that the past has caught up with him. Due to his lack in being a good father, his wild daughters seemed to live up to his parenting skills. Now with grandchild who don't have a father he steps up to the plate and tries to make up for lost time. Mr. Bruton can compare to the other characters of Gautreaux. Most of htem seemed to make for for lost time or make a new name for themselves. In Easy Pickings Big Blade was at first a normal little man who wasn't as intimidating as he was then. He made this mask and traveled around stealing from people which supposedly made him feel better as a person. Still trying to change his not so bad boy imagine from the past didn't turn out so well. Even though the end result is different from Mr. Bruton, the want for change and a better life brings them together. In The Misuse of Light Mel tries to change the present by trying to find this girl's past history. Even though it doesn't fully effect Mel he digs through the past and tries to clear up the misunderstanding to give the girl a better view of her deceased grandfather. Most of the main characters seem to want to make a better life for themselves or for someone else. Through their mistakes they learn how to make things better.

Misuse Of Light- Interview with Tim Gautreaux

Catherine: Hello Mr. Gautreaux, how are you today?
Tim Gautreaux: Im very well, thank you.
C: How did you come up with the idea to write the story Misuse of Light?
T: While writing all of my stories, I try to imagine a normal, average man, with a old boring job, and give him a problem. Give him a situation he has to get out of. Allow this character to be interesting. give him other characters and people in his life to work with.
C: Is there anyone in particular you based Mel off of?
T: No not anyone specific, just my imagination.
C: Where do you go to find inspiration for your stories?
T: To be honest go to Walmart a lot, I find it a wonderful source for a good story
C: Most of your stories take place in the South, Louisiana mostly, any reason?
T: Yes, actually i grew up in Louisiana, and at the moment I am an English teacher at Southeaster Louisiana University.
C: Oh! Are you a writing teacher?
T: Yes I am.
C: Do you teach your students any tricks that you use to be a great writer?
T: I teach my students inspiration. I show them a character and they give them a personality, a situation, a family, a life. My students are wonderful, all I need to teach them is confidence in their writing.
C: Which story that you've written is your favorite?
T: I do not have a particular favorite but I do like the story "Welding With Children." I became very attached to the character of the grandfather. I connected with his story, with his guilt. He was a good man.
C: I loved that story as well. In most of your stories your main character is in trouble, a lot of the time with the law, why do you have your characters be the "bad guy?"
T: I have them be the "bad guy," in order for them to be able to be saved. To show their journey of change. To allow them to meet the one person that will change their life forever.
C: I must say I love your stories, and thank you so much for this chance to interview you.
T: Your welcome Catherine, I'm glad you enjoy my writing.

Book Review for Easy Pickings

Recently I have read the short story, "Easy Pickings" by Tim Gautreaux, for Loyola Academy's short story review. The story is about a boy named Marvin, who lost control of his life and resorts to stealing. He changes his name to Big Blade to sound tough and bad, but in truth he is just small, scared, and dull. The story begins with Big Blade attempting to rob an old lady named Doris Landreneaux. During the whole story Big Blade is very mistaken in his decision to rob this particular old lady. He thought she would be afraid of him and hand over everything she owned, but he was sadly mistaken. The story is not about what to do if someone robs you but it has a deeper meaning of judgement and strength. Big Blade is just a small pathetic boy attempting to be a man, he changed his name in order to trick people into thinking he has power. Big Blade is a character that shows weakness. Doris is a very different character, she shows strength. She has all the power even though her exterior shows she is weak and old. Right when Big Blade sees Doris, he judges her for being an easy rob. His judgment lands him into a lot of trouble. he allows this judgment and weak mind to take over, while Doris never gives up and uses her strength to over take Big Blade. The message Tim Gautreaux is trying to put across is to not judge people by what they look like, or what their name is. he is telling the reader to look deeper into the person for who they really are. Doris Landreneaux saw right through Big Blade for the small weak boy he was.
Through out the story people were showing moments of grace. Doris is a strong vehicle of grace because of her ability to stay calm through out the whole situation and not let Bog Blade scare her. She saves herself as well as allowing Big Blade to realize he is not as tough as he thinks he is. Every reader will connect with her, and learn to love her. The police officer is also a vehicle of grace because he, in a not so obvious way, saves Doris. The last vehicle of grace were the card playing group next door. They spoke to Big Blade as if he was already forgiven for his actions toward Doris, and they also called the Police to save Doris.
Last week, I reviewed a different story by this author, "Waiting for the Evening News." This weeks and last weeks stories have a very similar story. Both are about a man in trouble. Jesse and Big Blade are both "fugitives" running from the cops. They get themselves into trouble and are taught by a particular person or vehicle of grace that they can not handle everything and they are weak not strong, allowing them to change.
I Highly recommend this story to the entire Loyola Academy student body. IT is a strong story with spectacular symbolism and deep meaning.

Welding With Children- 10 Questions

1. Were the daughters to blame for the children's behavior or the grandfather?
2. Does the grandfather deserve a second chance or did he miss this chance with his own kids?
3. Is the grandfather replacing his past with his grandchildren?
4. Does the daughter have a right to be defensive over her children?
5. If you were in the town, would you judge the grandfather and the kids the way Mr. Fordyson did?
6. Do you think Mr. Foryson was overall a vehicle of grace because of what he said to the grandfather or was he just being judgmental?
7. How would you compare the grandfather to other characters in this authors stories?
8. Compare his grandchildren and children. Are they replicas of each other?
9. What does the T.V. represent? How did it affect the children?
10. How does regret affect ones life and the people around them? Is the grandfather suffering from regret? If so does he deserve to be suffering?

Welding with Children- Character Comparison

In all three stories the events take place in Louisiana and in small towns. The main characters are smart and caring but this is not obvious. In the first story Mrs. L tricks the thief and ends up saving her life. While reading it I did not think that she was capable of doing something like that but she surprised me. She was caring because she fed him and treated him like a decent human being and even after he was captured she was disrespectful towards him in any way. In the second story, the main character cared about other people’s life and he was kind to them. Although through the picture he found something that he thought was bad he cared enough about it to right the situation. He saw that there was something weird in the whole thing and he found out that the grandfather was good and he saved the man’s reputation. The granddaughter still looked up to him. In the last story, the grandfather loved his grandchildren and he was hurt when they were insulted. He saw what was wrong with his grandchildren and found out how to fix the problem. He changed his house and his life because he cared about their future. I think that Gautreaux’s point in writing these stories is to show the everyday heroes in our life. If we were to open our eyes we would see them and the help that they offer.

Welding with Children Review

Welding with children was a well written story about a grandfather who struggled to become a better role model for his grandkids. Through themes of regret and second chances, Gautreaux shows the growth of his main character. Gautreaux’s stories are often about regular, average people who come across situations in life that they aren’t exactly prepared for. The characters usually end up solving these problems through their faith and God’s help. In this particular story, Bruton gets a second chance at parenthood. He wasn’t the best parent for his four daughters who all ended up having children out of wedlock, but now he is given the opportunity to make his grandkids turn out to be successful people. The message that he should change came in a moment of grace from Mr. Fordlyson when he tells him to change his church and that "Everything worth doing hurts like hell." This is an important message because in order to change Bruton has to come to terms with the fact that he failed at parenthood the first time around and he is going to have clean up his act to do better this time. Gautreaux makes the point that young children today are growing up ignorant and they have little faith. For example, when Bruton was reading his kids the bible, one of the kids compared Abraham to OJ Simpson. Overall, this was a story that combined humor and a valuable lesson to make it more entertaining to read.

Creative Response (Letter to Character)

Welding with Children

Dear Grandfather,

I am writing to you to because I think you are a very strong person not only because of the way you treat your grandchildren, but also because of all the regret and remorse you have lived with your whole life. It is hard to live with regret because that is the only thing you ever think about. I am willing to forgive you for your past parenting with your daughters because the way you acted towards your grandchildren in the story is beautiful. You really got offered a second chance and you have fulfilled that chance well. I am sure it is not easy to be a parent and no one is perfect; it is ok to make mistakes. I think it is great that you wanted to fix these parenting mistakes you made with your daughters and use them to make your grandchildren into fine human beings. You have really had a great journey throughout the story and have grown so much. When Mr. Fordlyson said, "Bruton, everything worth doing hurts like hell," you let grace into your heart. At this point of the story I felt touched by your willingness to change and be the hero you are to your grandchildren. It is so sad that your grandchildren see you as their father, but it is also an honor for you at the same time since you didn't fulfill that honor with your daughters. These wise words from Mr. Fordlyson really made you realize that you got a second chance to fix your parenting skills and teach your daughters that life is too short to "throw" your children away because children are a special gift from God and should be cherished, loved, and cared for until the end of time.

Sincerely,

Francesca Luizza