In his short story “The Last Day in the Field” Gordon portrays Aleck as the typical elderly gentleman, whose leg is starting to ache due to age. Despite the pain in his leg, on the last day of hunting season, Aleck goes hunting with Joe, a younger gentleman, who Aleck feels obligated to treat like a son. During the hunt the knowledge Aleck gives Joe is not as valuable as the life lessons he is unintentionally teaching through his actions. In “Last Day in the Field,” Caroline Gordon uses language to reveal her natural tone regarding relationships. Gordon chooses to portray Aleck as a father figure to Joe. As Aleck and Joe's relationship becomes clear, Joe naturally admires and respects Aleck. Joe is introduced as "Joe Thomas, the boy who owned them", the fact that Aleck calls Joe a "boy" shows that Aleck looks at Joe as his son. Joe is not seen as a neighbor, but as a son to Joe. (Gordon 97). Gordon also says that when Joe would come "home from the hardware store he would change his clothes and then go down the back street and [they] would stand there looking at the dogs and wondering how they would work" the way a father and a child together (Gordon 97). They almost seem to go back to their school days when Aleck wakes Joe up to go hunting because Aleck knows “which Joe's room was. The window was open and [Aleck] could hear [Joe] stirring. [Aleck] came over and stuck [his] head in,” Aleck obviously is confident enough in his relationship with Joe to do so (Gordon 97). Aleck knows Joe like it was his childhood home. Additionally, Aleck takes on the father's role when he makes sure to have breakfast ready for them before they leave. The relationship between them is also evident... middle of paper... By gaining a deeper understanding of the story and looking at the language used the message becomes clear; that a role model like the father figure does not have to be a biological father to be a father at heart. It also teaches an important lesson about respecting and listening to elders because they can teach you invaluable lessons. Today, people become so dependent on technology that they fail to notice their surroundings, even if it is right in front of them. Works Cited Cowan, Louise. "Aleck Maury, epic hero and pilgrim." Criticism of short stories. Detroit: Gale Research Inc 1994.124-133. Print.Gordon, Caroline. “The last day in the field”. The Collected Stories of Caroline Gordon. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2009. 96-104. Print.Rocks, James E. “The Short Fiction of Caroline Gordon.” Criticism of short stories. Detroit: Gale Research Inc 1994. 116-124. Press.