The death of his father, Adamo, had a very severe effect on Joey. He is affected in very physical ways when confronted with the loss, as the author writes: He found it hard to breathe. They went up the stairs together. Assunta stood at the top just under the light. He couldn’t look up at her. The lump in his throat was so large he couldn’t swallow (Paci 9). The emotional effects of the death are also very severe on Joey. Whenever someone’s parents die, the period of adjustment is extremely difficult, and Joey is no different. After the death his behaviour demonstrates that he is struggling to adjust to the loss of his father as best he can.
Joey has been living at home in Sault St. Marie with his parents even though he is almost thirty years old. He seems to be a little bit aimless in his life. When he was younger he wanted to be a professional hockey player, but his dreams did not work out for him. He still plays on an amateur hockey team for the company he works for, but it seems as though he is very different from most of the other players on the company team. Some of these men also had dreams of being professional hockey players one day, but they have all ended up working at a steel mill instead.”