Wrestling with my Father by Brad Manning is an exploitative essay which analyzes Manning’s “physical relationship” with his father.  Manning explains through his essay how their relationship developed over time and managed to transcend its physical limitations.  To compare different medias, i found this advertisement by Chevrolet which embodied a lot of the elements of Manning’s piece.

The ad starts out with a father taking his reluctant son on a manly camping trip in their “high-strength steel for high-strength dependability” “new [2015]Chevy Silverado”.  Manning’s relationship with his father is comparable since they both strive for communication and recognition through some mutual ruggedness: this is shown as Manning’s arm wrestling, and Chevrolet’s camping trip.

Another important comparison is how the relationships in each media develop.  In Manning’s piece, he shows how as the two mature (physically and mentally) they are able to overcome the barriers in their relationship.  In the commercial the boy and his father learn find common ground in their shared experiences.  Although both pieces show development, they do it in very different ways.  The ad suggests that through their experiences they can transcend the adversities in their relationship, whereas  Manning’s piece suggests that the father son relationship is more complex and genuine and personal development and incite is necessary for their relationship to advance.

Both medias end with the father and the son transcending their “physical relationship” and being more emotionally inclined.  Manning’s piece shows this and explains his conflicting uncomfortableness with the change.  The ad, on the other hand, shows their relationship as ending perfectly;  the validity of this is questionable.