In the book "Red Sky at Morning" by Richard Bradford, protagonist Joshua Arnold grows up with an absent father and a mother who is falling apart. Though his father didn't abandon the family and was quote a gentleman, he is not there to show Joshua the way through life. He is either at his business or, for most of the book, away in the army. Joshua's mother suffers from depression and is on a downward spiral to total mental break down. Throughout the novel Bradford uses the inherent irony of this family situation as a sort of second layer to the story. The book portrays a sort of mask, with the picture of a jocular, successful family that works together as the mask, and degrading relationships and falling part families as the second layer. Joshua is the child of the family, but ironically he is called upon to...