The large truck that Paps buys to replace the family’s car after it breaks down is an embodiment of his failure to prioritize his loved ones over his own desires. Although he thrills his sons with the large vehicle, his decision to buy it enrages Ma, who quickly points out that it’s an impractical vehicle for their family to own, since it doesn’t even have enough seats to fit all of them. The only way it can transport the entire family is if the boys sit in the bed, which is unsafe. This is a perfect representation of Paps’s lack of concern for his sons’ overall wellbeing. Instead of focusing on what would be best for them, he allows himself to get carried away with the idea of owning what Ma refers to as a “big-dick truck,” which makes him feel tough and masculine. This, it seems, is all he cares about, though he agrees to return the truck the following day after Ma screams at him for being selfish. And yet, he never actually returns it, a fact that symbolizes not only his unreliability as a husband and father, but his manipulative tendencies. Accordingly, the truck itself comes to stand for his unwillingness to think about other people, along with his controlling and deceptive ways of getting what he wants.
Paps’s Truck Symbol Timeline in We the Animals
