Balakian and His Father

In The Black Dog of Fate, at the end of the section "Father", Balakian writes a passage about the relationship he has with his father: "I think, to enjoy the moment, to keep his distance so as not to seem like those fathers living out their childhoods through their children. I love this gentle, calm way about him. I love the tact with which he respects my space. And I love to talk with him for hours about particular plays of the game, about the opposing team, about our game strategy. During these moments his Armenian silence and formality dissolved, and we expressed our love for each other." (112)

In the first few chapters of this novel, Balakian focuses on his many relationships with the different members of his family. In this chapter, he chooses to focus on the relationship he has with his father, mostly focusing on the troubles and difficulties that he had gone through against his father throughout adolescence. However, in this passage at the end of the chapter, Balakian suddenly turns around and looks back on the past from the present to truly appreciate his father through all the memories that he had previously revealed within the chapter. However, in the last sentence, it is also clear as soon as he labels his father's silence and formality with "Armenian" how unfamiliar and uncomfortable that side of his father was to him, as if it was the cause for all the arguments and fights that occurred. It is interesting that he says that only when the Armenian silence and formality has dissolved, can they truly express their love for one another. I think it may be because the Armenian side of his family was never explicitly explained to him and thus, becomes a mysterious and sensitive topic, which ultimately leads to Balakian's anger and frustration towards it as a teenager. It seems as if he truly dislikes being Armenian as a result and thus, it becomes the major difference between him and his father that keeps them distanced and separated, unable to truly express their love to each other through any other way except football, when being Armenian or not and the history that comes with it does not interfere with the game.