A Day Has a Morning and a Night by Jenn Scheck-Kahn is a plain spoken, realistic story set in a domestic setting. It is told
through an objective, far-away 3rd person. The story is about a man who loses his wife, unborn child, and family dog in a fire. He is with his son when the house burns, but cannot find the way to be there for his son. After moving back with his parents, going to the funeral, and returning to work, he tries his sister-in-law’s advice to write. Finally, he finds his way to grieve, through writing a computer programming language explaining his life with his wife. His son also finds a way to grieve the loss of his dog through a sculpture.
The 3rd person objectiveness shows the true struggle equally for the
father to heal from his loss. The descriptions are
strong and vivid. The ending is very strong, with both characters finding their own unique ways to grieve. Those ways are also similar, in that both characters are building something, showing the bond between father and son.