In the short story “A Bedtime Story” by Gilles Pinette, the author describes a story of George
Longarrow’s Christmas Eve with his family. In the story, the main character, George Longarrow,
is depicted as a traditional, spiritualistic and loving grandparent.
Firstly, George Longarrow loves his daughter and grandchildren. When Hope shows up with
two children on his doorstep after disappearing for five years, he “welcome all three of them into
the house .” This demonstrates that he does not blame his daughter for leaving and that he has
accepted his grandchildren as family. His love for the children is also shown by the way in which
he interacts with them. When Tara, his granddaughter, approaches him in his armchair, he
“extended his forearm around Tara and gave her a squeeze.” Therefore, there is no doubt that
George Longarrow is a caring senior.
Secondly, George Longarrow is old-fashioned . This can be seen from the decoration of his
house. His favourite armchair has “brown and orange floral” patterns, and the groove of that
armchair is worn. In addition, George Longarrow tells his grandchildren a traditional story,
saying, “I am going to tell you a story that my father told me and I told all my children and when
you have children, I would hope that you would tell them.” His speech shows that he is a person
who values tradition. George Longarrow is also received by others as old-fashioned. When Hope
left the reserve five years ago, she told her father that his life is “backward” and “old fashioned”.
Therefore, throughout this story, George Longarrow certainly displays his trait of being
traditional.
Thirdly, His trait of being traditional is also shown through his spiritualism. Instead of
emphasizing the importance of store-bought gifts, George Longarrow “shook his head” to show
disapproval, for he believes that “family and sharing” are what really matter at Christmas time.
His thoughts demonstrates that he deems spiritual elements to be more important than material
ones. His spiritualism stood in contrast with Hope’s materialism.
In conclusion, in the story “A Bedtime Story”, Gilles Pinette presents an old-fashioned and
affectionate grandparent who disapproves of materialism.