Take Home Essay- YAY!

            Granddaddy Cain and Pa Sexton are men who use the outdoors how it was meant to be utilized- to provide for their families. Both are men born to be in nature, with rough skin and hard hands. Granddaddy Cain was even described as having “motors in his feet and engines in his hands”, implying a hard and dedicated worker.

         Pa Sexton is painted as a withered leaf- with gnarled appendages and brown, weather-beaten skin- but also strong, refusing to relinquish his hold on his tree filled with prospering, green counterparts. Before his farm-work, Mr. Sexton dons creased overalls, hefty buckskin-laced boots, with socks barely visible around the tops, a sheepskin coat, a blue work shirt, and an abused black hat containing his gray-streaked black hair. In the new era he has found himself, and his morals, lost in, his workers-strength and lack of a good education are viewed as weaknesses among the younger students. It took a trip to the school with his gun in tow to make him realize the reality of his situation, and how the times have changed.

         In many ways Granddaddy Cain is similar to Pa Sexton- tall with white hair, and silent like a king. But in the story, he is less liberal with his beliefs, and doesn’t change them throughout. Instead of Farmboy attire, he chooses more of a nondescript and dignified look, including field boots and black oil skin. Rather than becoming red like Pa when angry, Granddaddy Cain is described as having “rocks in his jaw.”

         Both have a “tough love” image going for them, but, in Pa Sexton’s case, with a soft spot for animals. Granddaddy Cain is displeased with intruders, whatever their intentions, and hates it when people mess with his family. As far as we know, in his spare time he nails chicken-hawks to posts by their throats, enjoys a nice walk through the forest, and practices his impecible talent for knowing exactly when to emerge from the aforementioned woods. Pa Sexton doesn’t have much time for anything besides taking care of his copious amounts of cattle, punishing his son, Dave, with a switch, and threatening school teachers with his gun. But despite their faults, and over-protectivness, these two men are very devoted people.