In the novel Montana 1948, the relationship between David and his father is complex and distant, leading us to better understand the struggles they both face and their development throughout the novel. Their relationship also helps the reader understand the importance of positive role models for young children and the conflict between justice and family loyalty, both difficult issues they face. However, as readers we do not see Wesley's thoughts and emotions (as we do David's) through their relationship and how David views his father, we can develop a good understanding of both characters over the course of the novel. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although David and his father love each other, their relationship in the novel is generally tense and distant as they struggle to relate to each other and fail to recognize the trials the other faces in 1948 Montana. One of the most notable difficulties What hinders their relationship is Wesley's profession as sheriff. Frank's crimes, and Wesley's inaction towards them, drive a wedge into his father-son relationship, as David fails to appreciate the moral dilemmas that arise from Wesley's work and cannot understand why his father doesn't like him be a sheriff. He expresses his disappointment early in the novel: “My father was… a sheriff, a position with so much potential for excitement, danger, and courage, why couldn't some of that promise be kept?” This puts a strain on their relationship, as not only does Wesley physically and aesthetically fail to compete with David's opinion of the county sheriff, but not morally either. Wesley's struggle between family loyalty and the law is one that David never fully appreciates. However, as the novel progresses, he begins to understand better how difficult it was for Wesley to grow up under Julian and Frank: "I suddenly felt sorry for my father... what must it have been like to have a father who could talk to you like?" That?" David never truly understands his father's struggles. On Wesley's relationship side, his inability to realize that his son is aware of Frank's crimes also makes it difficult for them to connect. This is one of the reasons key underlying their strained relationship, as Wesley is too preoccupied with his job, and the choices he is forced to make, to notice his son or realize the guidance David needs. While David struggles to make sense of the adult themes that surround him, he doesn't have his father's help. Once again this makes it difficult for them to be close. The relationship between David and his father helps the reader understand the importance of positive male role models in a child's development. above all, the need for a strong father/son relationship. One of the main themes of this novel is the difficult journey from innocence to adulthood. For David, he faces much of this journey alone, without the guidance of his father while explores uncharted territories such as sexual impulses, mortality and suicide. An example of David's struggle to process all these new emotions and feelings can be seen in the magpie scene. While trying to sift through these complexities of adulthood (by shooting things), he kills a magpie. “I realized that these strange and unexpected connections – sex and death, lust and violence, desire and degradation – are there, deep inside even the good heart.” With the recent events that have occurred, he struggles to process them, without his father's help, he is unable to navigate these new thoughts. As his father is unaware of his son's recent awareness towards sex and death. As.