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Scott Russell Sanders - Buckeye

Sanders Portrays Buckeyes as Representing the Simpler Things in Life

Mar 3, 2009 John Hansen

Sanders delves into a specific moment he and his father shared involving buckeyes. From this stems feelings of nostalgia and a deeper understanding of his father.

The tone in Scott Russell Sanders’ essay Buckeye is very intimate. He seems to be reminiscing of how he first remembers learning the story of the “buckeye” through his father’s words and actions.

Why Buckeyes?

He starts off by giving an account of why his father used buckeyes. The first sentence seems to sum up the overall feeling he has for his father, “while the brown seeds are shriveled now, hollow, hard as pebbles, they still gleam from the polish of his hands.” Sanders is revealing that he will always remember his father clicking them together to ward off arthritis. Sanders immediately display the buckeyes as symbolizing the smaller or simplest things in daily life—which he and his father seem to greatly cherish.

Innocence

The tone throughout the story seems to be very innocent and lighthearted. As a young boy, he trusted his father’s instinct and knowledge. Sanders never really questioned his father’s information about buckeyes and the various types of woods he had encountered. The author tells his past accounts with his father in a very calm and soothing manner. For example, when he talks about (being so close to the group of deer that you could see the delicate lips, the twitching nostrils, the glossy, and fathomless eyes), Sanders gives an account that every child can relate to with their own father’s. This also shows that the simple things in life had greatly mattered to his father.

Meaning of Buckeye

A conceptual center to the essay may be the commonality of father and son working with their hands. Sanders tells his audience that his father tried to ward off arthritis because he lived through his hands. He dreaded the swelling of knuckles, and the stiffening of the fingers. Sanders may be showing his father’s infatuation with different kinds of wood, but may ultimately be showing how he longs for this type of passion when he writes.

Sanders appears to be giving a very detailed account of what his father taught him as a young boy. He may want to show his audience that memories spent with your father, such as this one, will always be remembered and valued. One could argue that Sanders is truly seeing life as his father did. Sanders also may be pleading for more memories like this with his father. While there are probably other fond memories of his father, none may be as prized as this detailed account.

The copyright of the article Scott Russell Sanders - Buckeye in American Fiction is owned by John Hansen. Permission to republish Scott Russell Sanders - Buckeye in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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