Rob Willison is a 14-year-old boy with a weak heart who struggles to live up to his ambitious father's expectations of becoming an athlete. During a long cycling tour arranged by his father, Rob grows tired but tries to push through his fatigue. When they return home, Rob's mother is worried about his health and wants him to rest. However, his father is disappointed when Rob does not make the football team. Rob lies and says he joined the boxing team instead, pleasing his father. His parents argue over the dangers of boxing before agreeing to let Rob box in a tournament, but then Rob fakes illness to avoid it, highlighting the communication issues within the family.

1. John Wain - Manhood
Author: John Wain
Title: Manhood
Published: 1980 as a single short story
Genre: a short story
Setting: Willisson´s family
Characters:
Rob Willison – fourteen-year-old boy, problems with heart, not so strong and ambitious like his father
would wish, but he tries to satisfy him and be a good son despite his own desires, passive, resigned
Mr. Willison – very ambitious, wants to give to his son all he hadn´t as a child, frustrated, strict,
insensitive
Mrs. Willison – worried about health of her son, doesn´t want to have an athlete from Rob, she wants
just healthy and smart child, over-protective
Brief summary of plot:
The story dealts with the awkward relationship between a father and his son. The father is very
ambitious. He wants to make a good athlete from his son because when he was young he had to study,
for fear of unemployment. He never had the chance to box or to row, he didn't even get a bicycle . And
he doesn't want his son to grow up with the same wretched physical heritage that he grew up with.
That's why he doesn't want him to rest for too long on his cycling tour. The son has to try to break his
fatigue barrier. The reason for the cycling tour was to give the installer the time to fix up a present Mr.
Willison bought for his son: a punch-ball. When they get home, the son, Rob, goes to his room, because
his tired. At this point the mother starts protesting because she thinks that it's unhealthy for a young boy
to do such things. When Rob, at the age of 14, doesn't get in to the football-team, his father is very
disappointed. But when he tells him that he did get in the boxing-team, his father is happy again. When
the father brings this up to the mother, she's says she doesn't want Rob to fight because it's too
dangerous: it could damage his brains. But finally they agree that Rob can go boxing, but he has to stop
after the tournament. So they start to train together. But the day of the tournament, Rob gets ill: he has
pain in his side and thinks he has appendicitis. Then the father calls Rob's coach: Mr. Granger, but he
doesn't know of anything: Rob's school doesn't go in for boxing.
Theme: Influence of society on a family, what society requires, comunnication barrier between the
parents and between the parents and son.
Statement I remember: The first thing any athlete has to learn is to break the fatigue barrier.
My evaluation: The story perfectly describes how pushy parents can be. And how children feeling to be
under pressure then tends to lie to make their parents happy. But a good family should discuss problems
and find solutions together.