The Inheritance of Tools

When I was looking through the essays, trying to decide on which one to read, “The Inheritance of Tools” caught my eye. As I further explored, I discovered that it was the story of not only the tools that a son had inherited from his father, but also the lessons that accompanied them. I found that I could relate these experiences that the father and son had shared in the essay to experiences that I have had with my own dad. This connection was in part due to the fact that Scott Russell Sanders could bring these events to life by the use of different rhetorical devices.

The first device that I noticed that was used was imagery. Sanders utilizes imagery right away to set a scene for the reader. “At just about the hour when my father died, soon after dawn one February morning when ice coated the windows like cataracts…” is how the essay begins. A few sentences later, Sanders uses imagery to describe the mark on his thumbnail after he smashes it with a hammer. “A week or so later a white scar in the shape of a crescent moon began to show above the cuticle, and month by month it rose across the pink sky of my thumbnail.” The use of imagery continues throughout the rest of the story and really brings all of the experiences to life.

Another device that Sanders employed was the use of similes and metaphors. These contributed to the existing imagery by adding the details. Some of the best similes are used when Sanders describes the hammer. “The head is scratched and pockmarked, like an old plowshare that has been working rocky fields.” Then right afterwards an unusual metaphor is used, “(It) gives off the sort of dull sheen you see on fast creek water in the shade.” This caught my attention because it didn’t seem like a comparison that all of his audience would be able to relate to. At the same time though, I think it reveals a little about Sanders and where he comes from. For instance, if Sanders would have come from the city rather than the country it might have been compared to cars or skyscrapers in the shade instead of creek water.

In addition to his rhetorical devices, Sanders has a fascinating way of looking at the world through his tools. The first example of this is when he is describing his level and states that, “When the bubble is lined up between two marks etched in the glass tube of a level, you have aligned yourself with the forces that hold the universe together.” I thought this was a clever way of looking at how something that seems unimportant is acted upon by such an immense force. One more instance of this is when he states that he sees no point in him owning complex machines that could do the same thing that his tools could. “The skill is invested in the gadget instead of the person who uses it,” he says, “and this is what distinguishes a machine from a tool.”

In conclusion, this essay is one that you could almost see as one of those movies where the son looks back on his time spent with his father. Sanders gives the events in the story life with his use of imagery backed up by his similes and use of metaphors. I was also able to relate this story to my life which made it interesting for me to read.