This shows that Albert feels that all of the problems with Ben only

He feels guilty because he is not able to look after Ben properly/ he is accountable for Ben’s poor growth. From the excerpt, “Her bread loaves rose and browned perfectly. Mine just collapse and shrivel like an old man’s buns.” This suggests that Albert feels like he can’t even make bread perfectly, so how could he properly take care of Ben. In a way, the ‘bread’ represents Ben. Thus, he feels guilty for not taking care of Ben properly.

From the excerpt, we can also see that Ben and Albert get into misunderstandings and arguments easily. The excerpt states, "Don't you get it? Your ma was a real mother. I'm not qualified to be a father." The phrase, "Don't you get it?" shows that Albert is frustrated with Ben insists that it was not his fault. He wants Ben to have the perception that Albert did not fulfil his duty as a father well, and that he was the cause of Ben's troubles. Albert keeps comparing himself to Ma, saying how she was a good mother and always taking such good care of Ben. He then blames himself and says that he is a failure, although he was not. Ben always tries to convince him and say that the situation could not be avoided, but Albert does not listen and insists that he was the root of Ben's problems.

Albert feels unworthy to be Ben's father. The excerpt states, "But when she died, you stopped growing.","Only when I started taking care of you." This suggests that Albert is comparing himself to Ma and feels that his love is worth less than her. He feels that Ben was better when Ma was around and blames anything bad that happens to Ben on himself. After Ma left, Pa had to work for long hours and was unable to spend time with Ben. Pa feels that he lacked quality time with Ben and neglected him, which adds on to his reasons on why he feels that he was not a good father. 

Albert feels inadequate because he sees himself as an incompetent father. The excerpt states, "I cemented it over because all her plants died after she did" and "But still they died. So I cemented the garden, put up a hoop and bought you a ball to hide my failure. But that wasn't the end. You started having a host of problems once she left us." "bought you a ball to hide my failure" suggests that Albert doesn't want Ben to think of him as a incapable person. However, "You started having a host of problems once she left us. suggests that Albert was unable to cover up his inadequacy to parent Ben like he was able to with the plants, and therefore views himself as an incompetent father.

It is also emotionally complex because Ben and Albert do not understand each other’s feelings. “Don’t you get it? Your ma was a real mother. I’m not qualified to be a father. But while she was alive, you never noticed. She made me look good.” This shows how Ben thinks Albert is just stubborn to talk about Ma and is accepting the fact that Albert is a good father while in reality, Albert thinks he’s inferior to Ma and always causes problems or makes mistakes for Ben when parenting him, being not good enough of a father for Ben.

Their relationship is emotionally complex because they do not understand each other's feelings. From the excerpt, Albert states, "Don't you get it? Your ma was a real mother. I'm not qualified to be a father." This suggests that Albert is feeling frustrated towards Ben, and the fact that Ben can't see him as the failure he thinks he is. He is upset over the fact Ben can't understand his feelings, but he doesn't listen to Ben's feelings either, stubbornly choosing to believe he is a bad parent.

Albert feels inadequate for his incompetent nature. The source states, "But still they died. So I cemented the garden, put up a hoop and bought you a ball to hide my failure. But that wasn't the end." This suggests that no matter how much he had tried to conserve Ma's living memory through the garden, he still failed. Hence, he wanted to benefit Ben through the usage of the garden to benefit his hobby. In such, a way to hide his feeling through the benefit of another. However, Albert was still not able to take care of Ben properly as he states that, "You started having a host of problems once she left us." This suggests that Albert had not been able to replicate the type of care a mother gave as before Ma had passed, Ben was in good health. However, after Ma had passed, Ben started falling ill as a result of Albert's improper level of care provided to Ben. In conclusion, Albert felt unsuited, guilty, and inadequate as a father due to his supposedly lack of care to Ben.

Albert also feels guilty about his role as a father because of Ben’s health problems. This can be seen in “But when she died, you stopped growing” and “Only when I started taking care of you. And then your milk teeth started falling out… and those monster teeth started sprouting from your mouth”. This shows that Albert believes that there is a correlation between Ma’s death and Ben’s decline in health. Despite evidence to disprove this belief in “It was asthma, Pa. It could have happened even when Ma was around”, because Ben was still healthy while Ma was alive, Albert blames himself and believes that he is unable to properly take care of Ben.

It was also an emotionally complex relationship as both Ben and Albert do not understand each others feelings. The excerpt states, "Don't you get it? Your Ma was a real mother. I'm not qualified to be a father. But while she was alive, you never noticed. She made me look good." This suggests that Albert was frustrated with how the impression of him has changed from before Ma's passing to after. This further made Albert blame for not being able to take care of himself as the past and present familial ties in between both of them is on a thin thread as they are trying to convince each other that whether or not whatever happened to Ma does not change the fact that she is gone and that not they are alone. In which Albert is the person to blame for all the bad things that have had happened to Ben during the time period of which after Ma was gone.

Albert feels deeply inadequate and unworthy of his role as a father, especially after the death of Ma.This is clearly shown when Albert says, “Your Ma was a real mother. I’m not qualified to be a father.” This quote reveals Albert’s internal struggle with self-worth and responsibility. He compares himself negatively to Ma, implying that she reflected true parenthood while he is simply falling short. His use of the word "qualified" highlights how he sees parenting not as a natural role, but as something he has failed to live up to . In addition, Albert said that he was "forced to sell his house" and can’t even "get a job that allows him to spend ten minutes" with his son. These statements emphasize his feelings of helplessness and failure, showing how the family's financial struggles have added to his guilt. His inability to provide or even bond with Ben suggests he sees himself as a shadow of the kind and nurturing figure Ma once was. Therefore, Albert's words and actions reflect how as a father he was crushed by grief and guilt, believing that he has failed both as a provider and as a father. His emotional distress also shows the overwhelming impact of Ma’s death on the family’s stability and his personal identity.

He also feels guilty that he is unable to take care of him as well as Ma was able to. This can be seen in the except “When she was around, you were tall for your age”, “But when she died, you stopped frowing. Within two years, you were the shortest and skinniest in the class. Suddenly you were falling sick every other month”, “Only when I started taking care of you. And then your milk teeth started falling out…and those monster teeth started sprouting from your mouth…”, “Your ma was a real mother. I’m not qualified to be a father.”, “She made me look good”. He believes that he is ‘worse’ than ma and is a bad father to Ben. This highlights how he feels guilty and unable to take care of Ben properly like ma was able to.

Ben and Albert’s relationship is also emotionally complex because of the barrier between Ben’s desire for connection and Albert trying to distance himself from Ben. Based on the excerpt, Ben says “Come on Pa. You used to make so many pratas with Ma. I used to watch!” Then Albert replies with “Your Ma made all the dough! I just pretended to play along!” This shows that Ben wants to build a connection with Albert by trying to remember a happy memory. However, Albert shuts him down completely, suggesting that he wants to push Ben away. This makes it hard for them to bond with each other, creating an emotionally complex relationship.

Another reason why it is an emotionally complex relationship is that Ben does not blame his father for himself getting sick. This is shown in the excerpt as he tries to change the topic in line 32 and 33 ‘Gee… thanks, Pa. You couldn’t have described me more freakishly!’ And in line 27 and 28 ‘It was asthma, Pa. It could have happened even when Ma was around’. This shows that Ben is trying to divert the blame from Albert so that he will not feel like it was his own fault that Ben fell sick. It is a complex relationship as they are unable to have a honest conversation with each other, with Albert trying to blame himself, and Ben even knowing that Albert may be correct. This shows that even in their conversation, they are unable to be truthful to each other, proving that it is an emotionally complex relationship.

Secondly, their conversations are laden with misunderstanding. When Ben says, “Gee…thanks, Pa. You couldn’t have described me more freakishly!”, it shows sarcasm and discomfort in response to Albert’s blunt criticism. This shows that they struggle to connect and stay positive. Their conversations fail to empathise with each other.