Revised 900 Word-- FSB

In Bret Lott's Fathers, Sons, and Brothers, the element of sound is used quite often. There could be many reasons as to why he writes this way; perhaps it's to add more detail, or to make the reader feel as though they are right there with him. Bret Lott uses sound to convey to the reader a certain feeling and to develop a certain mood. He does this throughout the book, and each time the feeling may be completely different from the one before it, but each time it makes the situation seem even more real. This intense imagery that is used is what helps to formulate each story, and more so, make each one even more interesting. Although there are many examples of this in Bret Lott’s work, there is a few that seem to confirm how beneficial his use of sound really is.

There is an entire section titled "Sound", but there is one part in particular within it where Lott’s use of sound is very apparent. It's when he says "I lay there in bed listening to that sound, wondering where it had come from, why it was here, what purpose it served; and imagined that perhaps I was the only one of earth who ever heard it" (22). Lott is talking about the sound of blood rushing through his head, but to him, at this age, it is something much more than that. It’s something he looks forward to every day after his paper route. It’s almost as if he feels as though this sound is proof of a job well done. Here he also says “But most times I only lay awake, waiting for what could happen next, that sound passing through me and swallowing me whole, me that much alone in the world” (22). Once again he brings up being the only one in the world to hear that noise, and to feel that feeling. He shows the reader that this sound meant a lot to him, and is something he didn’t take for granted. This sound, of blood rushing through his head, held much more value than something that simple. With this description of the sound he heard, Lott expresses a mood of accomplishment and contentment.

In another instance, when a hurricane is approaching, Lott uses sound to describe the intensity of the situation by saying “I opened the door, not certain what I would find, and the sound suddenly increased, now loud in all its quietness, a whisper shouted” (124). The oxymoron’s used in this passage are what illustrate how intense the wind outside this door was. His family had to flee their home to keep safe from this very storm, which could be why this quote leaves the reader apprehensive about what will happen next. Lott conveys to us that he, too, was concerned about what was to come, but also amazed by the velocity of the storm approaching. He says he wasn’t sure what to expect, but seemed to be so caught up in the sound of it all that he had to at least look. What he found was nothing more than wind, but such a wind that left him with the memory of this immense sound. Lott uses these contradictory words to help set the mood, a mood that is somewhat worrisome but also in awe of this great wind, right outside the door.

Lott uses sound to thoroughly describe weather in another, much less serious instance. He takes a short road trip with his two sons, when a rain shower hits and here he says "...and now, too, the silence of the van is shattered by the pounding rain, a dark ominous sound like the drumming of a thousand haints' hands on the roof, and I look in the rear view mirror to see if the noise will awaken the boys, scare them out of sleep" (146). With this passage, Lott describes the swiftness of this storm just as he did with the other. In both instances he gives you the feeling that the rain is hard hitting, but in this one it seems to be almost calm. Perhaps it’s because the boys don’t awake from their sleep, or because they haven’t been running from this storm, but the mood this passage leaves the reader with largely differs from the other. Through his descriptions of sound, Lott can take two somewhat similar instances, and leave the reader with two very different feelings.

The two sections about the weather and the one after his paper route wouldn’t have left the reader with the intense feelings they tend to feel, if Lott wouldn’t have described the sounds he encountered in such depth and clarity. This proves how much Lott's use of sound is beneficial to the reader and his writing. Lott’s extreme descriptions do not make his stories confusing, which often happens in other books. It’s quite the opposite actually. These almost loud images, help to make each situation that much more vivid in the mind of the reader. He uses imagery, with something that can’t even be seen. Without this, these stories would be much less interesting, and easily forgotten. It’s this aspect of his writing that adds to the enjoyment of the reading, while conveying and developing moods, and feelings that will stick with his readers.