NCGO - Sunday In The Park
By: Lucas Leung - Feb. 8, 2023 - ENG3U

Morton

Reserved, peaceful, weak, timid, meek, passive

After staring down the big man and failing to change his mind, he ultimately backs down and quietly leaves the park.

Physical characteristics imply he may not have high self-confidence

When confronting the bully's father, he refrains from fighting.

Interacting with the big man, his body language is described as timid/weak, showing he dislikes conflict.

Intellectual, wise, reasonable, educated, logical, sensible, calm, mild-mannered

He regularly works at a university

He was reading the The Times Magazine newspaper, demonstrating intellectual/maturity levels compared to comics the big man was reading

Believes he can calmly persuade the big man into instructing Joe to stop throwing sand. Utilising sound-reasoning, Morton attempts to resolve the situation between Larry & Joe.

After leaving the playground with his wife & Larry, he concludes (via cost-benefit analysis) that fighting the big man wouldn't have proven anything meaningful; as well, he would've also suffered serious injuries.

Morton's wife

The primary character since the story is primarily told in 3rd person through her perspective, with her thoughts and feelings described.

Well-off, decently educated

Unreasonable

Despite understanding what the dangerous physical harm may faced Morton had he engaged in an altercation, she still feels upset and feels as though he should've fought.

Most 3-year-olds are small and fairly weak due to their young age, Larry's mother unreasonably derides her son for being weak - despite the fact Larry is only 3 years old.
"The child was still crying. Always before she had felt a tender pity for his defenseless little body, the frail arms, the narrow shoulders with sharp wing like shoulder blades, the thin and unsure legs, but now her mouth tightened in
resentment" (Kaufman 3).

Larry

Very young, 3 years old

Weak, tiny, small

Averse to conflict

The Other Father

Angry, argumentative, stubborn

Overweight, referred to as "the big man"

More simple-minded & less intellectual than Morton, he is reading comic books

Joe

Around Larry's age (3 years old), heavier/bigger than Larry by about 10 pounds

Rude, inconsiderate

Bullying Morton by throwing sand at him

Unwilling to listen

Morton's wife's attempts to scold Joe fall on deaf ears.

The father figure in a family is expected to command absolute authority & masculinity.

Family dynamics are not always what they seem like on the surface.

Parents mustn't be overprotective over their children, so that they can learn to defend themselves effectively.

The need to be victorious and feel powerful can sometimes override proper decision making.

Family dynamics

Reason vs Force

Takes place outdoors at five-thirty on a warm Sunday afternoon, in a city park

The playground is small

The playground and park is nearly deserted; the slides, swings and seesaws are described as motionless & abandoned. Only two women, a man on a faraway bench and a little girl leaving the gate are left in the park.

Person vs Person

The Morton Family vs Joe's Father

The big man doesn't stop his son from repeatedly chucking sand at Larry, believing Joe has the right to do so with the reasoning being that it's a public sandbox.

Causes the Morton family, inclusive of Larry and Morton's wife, to leave the park (at the direction of Morton himself)

Morton vs Morton's Wife

Morton's wife has conflicted feelings and thoughts on Morton, due to him not standing his ground against the other father.

During and after the incident, Morton's wife develops feelings of contempt towards her husband, stemming from perceived cowardice.

At the end of the story she believes that Morton cannot even discipline Larry to stop him crying.

Morton's Wife vs Larry

Morton's wife snaps at Larry due to him not standing up to Joe, and exhibiting the same perceived flaws (i.e. weakness) as Morton

Morton vs Larry

Morton was planning to discipline his son Larry for continuing to cry and wishing to play in the sandbox.

Person vs Self

Morton vs Morton

Feeling he has no other choice to resolve the dispute, against his wishes he is forced to leave the park.

Morton's Wife vs Morton's Wife

She fears Morton will start fighting the other man and wants to stop him, though also not

She debates internally whether Morton avoiding fighting the other father was justified

She wants to ignore what transpired, her persistent feelings about Morton, and return to her daily routine at home