4.2.3 Obsessed
Chick Benetto, from his childhood always wants to get his father’s loves and cares. He longs for his father’s love. He does anything that can make his
father close to him, cares for him and feels happy to have him. He imitates his father’s mimics and voice. He practices baseball from his childhood, carries
baseball gloves just because his father loves baseball. He will come to see his father in his liquor store. He stays until dinnertime and waits for him until his
father finishes his job. He does those things in order to get his father’s love. However, his father does not care about him. He ignores him with his
business outside. He does not see that his child is being attached to him. He ignores the fact that Chick is pursuing for his love. He closes his heart and makes
Chick tries hard to chase his love. Chick realizes it with his own theory. “You see, here’s my theory: Kids chase the love that eludes them, and for me, that was
my father love. He kept it tucked away, like papers in briefcase. And I kept trying to get in there Albom 33.”
Moreover, because of the impact of divorce that makes his father goes
away from their home, Chick feels lonely and thirsty of finding his father. He brings the feeling up to his dream. He says, “I used to dream about finding my
father Albom 111.” This is common in a divorced family as the effects of divorce on children are almost negative. The absence of one parent, the emotional
and financial tension, and sometimes the conflicts between parents lead into some psychological problem for the children Bukatko 450.
Chick also has illusion that his father will be around him especially when he swings his baseball bat or throws a ball. He is sure that his father will appear
and come to him every time he plays baseball. He tries to play through every season and in every league with every team possible just to see his father. He
believes that his father always notices him if he plays baseball and they will meet again somewhere in baseball field.
I saw him whenever I swung a bat or threw a ball, which is why I never gave up baseball, why I played through every spring and every summer on
every team and every league possible. I could picture my father at the plate, tipping my elbow, correcting my batting stance. I could hear him
yelling, “Dig, dig, Dig” as I ran out a ground ball Albom 111-112. Furthermore, Bukatko sees that children living with their mother also
typically show a dramatic impairment in their relationship with their father .
The impact is going stronger if the children do not see their father at all or see him
only a few times in a year Bukatko 453. The same thing happens to Chick. Having not met his father for eight years, finally he sees his father in the baseball
field watching him playing baseball. At that time Chick feels everything stops for a while. He feels his lips tremble. A waiting for long time to see his father finally
comes true. However, still, he does not get what he wants. His father just appears for a while and when the game is over he cannot find him anymore.
He nodded at me. Everything seemed to freeze. Eight years. Eight whole years. I felt my lip tremble. I remember a voice in my head saying, Don’t
you dare, Chick. Don’t you cry, you bastard, don’t cry. I looked at my feet. I forced them to move. I kept my eyes on them all the way into the
batter’s box. And I smacked the first pitch over the left-field wall Albom 113.
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