"Willi" by E.L. Doctorow, from American Short Story Masterpieces (Reading Response)

I did not know that the beginning was referring to masterbation.  Reading throught this story the first time, I concluded that this child was very in-tune with nature, as many children are.  Now, as I re-read it, I try to find signs of this somewhat hidden message in lines and references of things like Willi's "face in the...whiteness."  I also was not sure of whether his father kills his mother.  Willi specifically uses the word "killing,"  but it did not make sence to me why he would actually want his mother dead and want to be the one who is killing her.  One thing is for sure about this story:  more than one reading is required for some people in order to put all of the pieces together for some clarity on what is going on.  It seems as though Willi is following too closely in the footsteps of his father, and also does not completely understand the difference between physical abuse and sex.  When the father watches the dogs mate, he is "banging his fist into his right hand" as if he's getting excitement from the animal mating.  Violence (fist-banging) and sex being acted upon at the same time is probably what confuses Willi and causes him to think of his mother engaging in intercourse with Ledig as something violent.  His own fist-banging occurring as he hears his mother being beaten may also be a result of this confusion. Willi's father is also married to Willi's mother, and presumable has sex with her.  Since Willi looks up to his father, this may be a reason why Willi desires sex with his mother, too.  E.L. Doctorow takes me into what an isolated life of a young boy on a farm could look like.  He also opens my eyes to different ways of disguising something shocking as something seemingly common.  This story is also a great example of how an author can scatter different components of a story within the story, similar to puzzle pieces, but scatter them in just the right way so that careful thought and maybe more than one reading of the story will cause connection and understanding.