11th Eng Poem-5. Father to Son By Elizabeth Jennings ( HORNBILL) Introduction, Summary, Message, Theme

5. Father to Son By Elizabeth Jennings

I. Introduction to the Poem

This poem has an autobiographical tone, an exclusive experience of the poet in relation to his own son. It is a little family drama. The father and lus son have been living together in the same house for years. Instead of coming closer, they are drifting apart. There is a gap of understanding and communication. They don't see eye to eye on any issue. Such a situation is a common feature in most of the families. The dominating father finds his son defiant. The new generation wants to live life on its own terms. The youngsters think independently. They cease to be on talking terms. The father feels helpless. He is ready to forgive the child provided the latter feels sorry. But he rarely tries to understand the young boy's likes and dislikes, demands and dreams. The conflict is never resolved because they refuse to compromise.

II. Complete Summary

The father and the son have been living together in the same house for several years. Yet there is no communication between them. They live like strangers. The father knows almost nothing about the son's grievances and demands. He is unhappy yet eager to mend fences. He wants to analyse the situation and discover the reasons why their relationship has turned sour. The boy was quite nice when he was small.

The father fails to understand where he made the mistake in the upbringing of his child. Possibly he sowed the sickly seed on a land which belonged to somebody else. The child bears resemblance with him but he thinks very differently from him. There is some gap of communication and understanding. He has perhaps failed to see the child's point of view, his dreams and aspirations, his likes and dislikes.

The two are not even on talking terms. This is an unbearable situation. He is ready to ignore the boy's wasteful habits when he comes back to his father's house. He is pained to note that the grown-up son is planning to live separately in a world of his own creation. He plans to give his son all his love and stop grumbling. His top-most priority is to break the silence that has encircled them.

The son also talks sensibly. He also feels that the father and the son ought to live in the same place and in the same house. But his obstinacy hurts and irritates the father. His sorrow turns into anger also because he feels defeated. Yet, he is ready for a compromise. In fact, both have the same desire to come together. They are only waiting for an excuse to forget the past and forgive each other.

Message-The poem portrays a universal problem, the generation gap and inability to communicate between a father and a son. The father did try to understand his son, to build a relationship with him, but failed terribly. He then goes on to speak about the thread of connection missing between them.

Theme -The theme of this poem is the relationship between a father and son and the generation gap that exists between them. The father remarks that he cannot understand his son even though they have lived in the same house for years

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