How is papa different when he comes back to his family?

When Papa comes home, there is a tension that has been building through dramatic irony that is finally loosed. They don't know what life has done to him. They don't know whether he has been abused, humiliated, psychologically attacked—but all those are reasonable guesses. The damage that Papa demonstrates is telling. He has a drinking problem and he doesn't socialize. Whatever happened to him left him with social paranoia and a need for distance. He takes up gardening as an attempt at solace.