THE ONGOING CONFLICT BETWEEN FATHER AND SON
An insight into the poem FATHER TO SON by Elizabeth Jennings
The poem revolves around a conflict between father and son who are in a serious communication gap. Though they live in the same house/globe, they are like strangers to each other. The father broods over this and this forms the centre of the poem. He introspects with an agrarian imagery where he feels he has sown his seed in a stranger’s land that forbids him from owning it. He admits that he cannot share what his son loves and expects him to come back home like the Prodigal/lost son in the parable of Jesus in the Bible. He is ready to forgive him and develop a new love from sorrow. But his son feels anger growing out of sorrow and admits the vain efforts of both in understanding each other.
This poem doesn’t merely depict a domestic conflict but touches upon the Creator-creation conflict/god-man conflict which gives an entirely novel dimension to the poem. Remember the Frankenstein story.
Had the poem been written from the point of view of the son, it would have brought in new scopes for discussion and debate.
“Your children are not your children…” from the Prophet can be recounted in this context.
9 comments:
nevr evr imagind dat such a deep thot is hidden within a small poem....sir pls cn u giv sum details bot landscape of the soul? a brief summary lik...
akshatha here!thnx alot sir.
sir i want brief summary in we're not afraid to die if we can all be together lesson sir please will u write sir.
Sir ur blogs r lyk reminder 4 us 4 wt u told us in the class..
thanks aloott sir!
Shubhangi here!
Respected sir,u r absolutely right. that is what we can see around us and i feel the generation gap is the biggest reason why parents do not leave with their children or in other words the poor parents r forced to leave in old age home,sir i really praise u r deep thinking about this poem n i never thought that poems can express d feelings through words to this extent.keep writing,we all like u r articles.
jyoti tiwari
11 B
Genretion gap is really a big issue. But upto this extend!! What is the core reason behind this gap? Not only in the poem but in general.. Is it all because of the modern culture?
thank u so much sir..
respected sir,
i needed summary of the chapter"the ghat of the only world"
mere paas zyada time nai hai,actully 36 hrs ke baad mera exam hai...
please help me out if u can..
thanks a lot sir.
your student,
priyanka
Thank u sir for the short-and-sweet description.... i have my exam tomorrow and have read the poem for the first time. your summary was a great help.
thank u.
sir,
1) in Frankenstein, the monster was not the creator's "son"; he was rather murdering the creator's kin. in this light, how can we compare the poem with Frankenstein?
2) why do the two put out an empty hand, longing for something to forgive?
pl answer, exam tomorrow
thank you
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