Father to Son - Analysis

ELIZABETH JENNINGS

ABOUT THE POET :

- An English Poet

- Born July 2, 1926 in Lincolnshire

- Education - St. Anne's College, Oxford High School

- Books: New Collected Poems, A Spell of Words, Every Changing Shape, After the Ark and so on

- Died October 25, 2001 

- Regarded as a traditionalist rather than an innovator, she was appreciated for the lyrical quality of her poetry and simplicity of meter and rhyme. She was a staunch Roman Catholic which reflects in her poetry as well. (ref. 'the prodigal son')

THE PRODIGAL SON :

'The Prodigal Son' is a Biblical reference from the New Testament's parables of Jesus. The story is of a father with two sons. The younger demanded his inheritance despite the fact that traditionally, the eldest born is heir. The father accedes and the spoilt younger son leaves home. He spends his fortune foolishly, eventually returning to his father's house with barely a stitch of cloth on his body. The father forgives him, and welcomes him into his embrace with open arms and a celebratory feast. Artist Pompeo Batoni represented this parable beautifully through the following painting:

ANALYSIS OF THE POEM:

The theme of the poem is the generation gap which occurs when the communication link between two generations breaks due to a mutual lack of understanding, tolerance and acceptance. Compare and contrast this poem with the poem 'Childhood'. That poem was the child's perspective and struggle to understand himself. This poem is the father's inability to come to terms with the young adult who has replaced the father's 'little boy'.

The poem highlights the internal conflict a father undergoes when his son becomes old enough to define his own interests, thoughts and perceptions. The brooding father complains that he cannot understand his child despite having lived together for many years in the same house. The father tries to continue a relationship based on what he knew of the son from his youngest years but of course, the son has change over time. The tone is almost pleading, attempting to find a link with his grown up son.

Using a typically agrarian imagery, he questions whether he has already lost his own child, his son, due to this distance between them or was the son on a mental plane that was entirely his own and which, the father cannot access. The father uses ‘I’ in these lines acknowledging his own role in creating this communication gap between them.

The father and son have become strangers with no understanding of each other. Traditionally, the son’s upbringing is in the very environment and with the values the father provided. Thus, the father feels his son is built to his design and should be like his father in most aspects. However, his son now has interests the father cannot share. There is no shared passion, no common ground. Most times, there is only an awkward silence between them. The frustration of the father is evident as he struggles to understand why his own son, his flesh and blood, has turned into an absolute stranger.

The father in the poem sees his child as the prodigal (spendthrift, underlying implication: foolish) son and wants him to return to the home he has always known. He does not want the son to make his own world, away from his father. The father says he would forgive his son if he asked for forgiveness like the prodigal son. He would love him again despite the sorrow of the distance that existed between them once. The tone is slightly condescending and implies that the father is unable to let his son go, even at the cost of restricting the son's personal development and independence.

The son admits that he is at a point where he is struggling to understand even himself. He does feel the grief of the broken relationship he shares his father and yet, there is an anger that arises out of his confused, fraught inner self. The son speaks for the first time and it is quite clear, that the frustration lies on both sides. Pablo Neruda once commented on the sadness that arose from being unable to understand oneself. The son seems to be in the same confused, sad and yet, angry phase of growth. This stanza is reminiscent of the poem 'Childhood' which outlines a child's struggled to understand himself as he turns into a young adult.

The father concludes the poem realising that in their hearts, each of them wants to forgive the other. However, neither wants to take the first step and ask for forgiveness. Each puts out an empty hand for the other to take, but neither places theirs in the other’s hand. However, it is positive that at least they long to forgive and find a way to make things work.

Usually, by the time parents accept the new individuality of their children, the damage has already been done and the process of coming together is difficult and painful. Respecting each others’ differences is the only way to alleviate the distance, the strange and awkward silence.

While the father’s anguish and frustration is highlighted, the ego comes through as well. It is also noteworthy that the poem is written by a woman and not a man. A number of questions remain open to speculation.

QUESTION BANK:

 

Short answer questions –

Q.1. Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

        Yet have I killed

        The seed I spent or sown it where

        The land is his and none of mine?

        We speak like strangers,there’s no sign

        Of understanding in the air.

(a)    Who is ‘I’ in these lines? Whom is he talking about?

(b)   Explain the meaning of the first sentence

(c)    What is the poet’s mood in these lines?

Q.2. Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

        This child is built to my design

        Yet what he loves I cannot share,

        Silence surrounds us.

(a)    What is the meaning of the first line?

(b)   What kind of relationship exists between the father and son?

(c)    Find two expressions which show the desolation the father feels

Q.3. Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

                       I would have

       Him prodigal,returning to

       His father’s house,the home he knew,

       Rather than see him make and move

       His world, I would forgive him too,

       Shaping from sorrow a new love.

(a)    Explain the use of word ‘prodigal’ in the 2 line

(b)   What does ‘I’ not want?

(c)    What would ‘I’ forgive?

(d)   What is the meaning of the last line?

Q.4. Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

        He speaks: I cannot understand

        Myself,why anger grows from grief

        We each put out an empty hand,

        Longing for something to forgive.

(a)    Who are ‘he’ and ‘I’?

(b)   What do the first two lines say about their relationship?

(c)    What are they both trying? Are they successful?

Q.5. Read the lines given below and answer the following questions:-

        I do not understand this child

        Though we have lived together now

        In the same house for years.i know

        nothing of him,so try to build

        up a relationship from how

        he was then small.

(a)    How are ‘I’ and the child related?

(b)   What does ‘I’ know about the child?

(c)    What does ‘I’ wish to try?

(d)   What are the names of the poem and the poet?

Q.6.What kind of relationship do the father and son share? Why is it so?

Q.7.The father wants his son to be like the prodigal son.Why?

Q.8.What emotions have been expressed by the father regarding his relationship with his son?

Q.9.What does the father feel about this stranger-like relationship with his son? Does he wish to change it?

Q.10.The anguish of the father comes through very strongly in the poem.Show his feeling about his son as expressed in the poem.