Interestingly enough, the author does not provide much of a physical description of the father. We know he is of fairly old age, as he ultimately dies at the end of the story, but there isn’t much description of his looks. We do clearly see that he has a very strict and stern demeanor. The author notes: ” We were allowed a single Crayola from the box at a time. One Christmas Eve he shrieked at Kimmie for wasting an apple slice. He hovered over us as we poured ketchup saying: good enough good enough good enough. Birthday parties consisted of cupcakes, no ice cream”. Such descriptions of the children’s upbringing paint a picture of a very rigid, overbearing father.