Father to Son

Summary

The father is unhappy as there is no bond of understanding between him and his son. Though
they have lived under the same roof for years, he does not understand his son fully well. The son
has taken after his father and has grown up as he had planned, but some kind of void has been
created. They are poles apart in their outlook and attitudes. In spite of these differences, they
have to exist in the same world. The father is ready to forgive his extravagant son. In fact, both
of them are in a lookout for some opportunity to forgive each other. The poem ends on a note of
intense longing of the father to be with his son who has become distantly aloof. The father is
ready to forgive his son despite the residuals of anger.

What emotions does the poet undergo?

Answer:The emotions of confusion, perplexity, grief and also anger are expressed by the speaker
in his confession as he analyzes what could have gone wrong in the relationship between the
father and the son.

How can you infer that the father wishes his son to remain at home with him?

Answer:The father expresses in the last stanza that he would have him back like the proverbial
son who came back home after leaving it for some time. Cordial relations can still be established
if they both make effort and show forgiveness. The prodigal son was forgiven and accepted.

Why do you think does the father appear so helpless?

Answer:The father appears so helpless because the son has a mind of his own. They do not share
any love or any understanding. The son appears to be at some place far away either literally or
metaphorically and the father is helpless at the situation.

What do you think is responsible for the distance between father and son?

Answer:The difference of opinions, lack of understanding and love is responsible for the distance
between the father and the son.

What does the speaker say about father-son relationship?

Answer:The speaker tells us that there seems to be a conflict, a lack of understanding and a gap
between the father and son. The father realises this and wants to make an effort to bridge this
gap.

Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.

Answer:‘I do not understand this child’, ‘we speak like strangers, there’s no sign of
understanding in the air’, ‘what he loves I cannot share’, ‘Silence surrounds us’.

How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?

Answer:The father expresses his helplessness several times in the poem when he says that he
does not understand his son.
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal?

Answer:The poem does talk of an exclusively personal experience. However, we can also call it
fairly universal because a conflict like this is quite common in many households. It is also known
as generation gap.

How important it is to forgive and forget the person who is important to you? Discuss on
the basis of the poem you read.

Answer:

In the poem, the old father misses his son who had left the house many years ago owing to a
disagreement with him. It has been many years since the incident and still they are not on talking
terms. The old father misses his son terribly and wants to forgive him. He wants to mend the
bridge that separates him from his son. Here the poet asserts the need for letting go of past
bitterness and grievances and starting a new beginning.

It is important to forgive people for the things they may have committed in the past because
everyone makes mistakes. In youth, people are rash and thoughtless and make stupid mistakes
and it’s the duty of their more experienced parents to understand and forgive them. No mistake
can be bigger than the person who matters. Family should be above any misunderstanding and
conflict. Only when you forgive and forget, you can let the warmth of love to flow again.

We each put out an empty hand,

Longing for something to forgive.
a) Do you think a reconciliation is possible and how?
b) Put out an empty hand. What does this signify?
c) Name the poem and the poet.

Answer:a) Yes, I think reconciliation is possible between the father and son. Both agree to sink
their differences and start afresh.
b) The line signifies that the father and son have to extend a hand of forgiveness to end the
conflict.
c) The name of the poem is ‘Father to Son’ and the poet is Elizabeth Jennings.

Rather than see him make and move

His world. I would forgive him too,
Shaping from sorrow a new love.
a) Who is ‘him’ in the first line? Who wants to see him make and move?
b) Explain the first line mentioned above.
c) Why does the speaker want to forgive him?

Answer: a) ‘Him’ in the first line is the son and the father wants his extravagant to return home.
b) The father wishes that his son should return home and be in his own familiar surroundings
rather than go out and establish himself outside in the world which is strange.
c) The father wants to forgive his son because he is keen to have him back and re-establish the
relationship with him whom he used to share when the son was small and dependent on him.
Silence surrounds us. I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father’s house, the home he knew.
a) Why does the speaker say ‘silence surrounds us’?
b) What does the speaker wish? Does it remind you of some familiar tale?
c) What is the poetic device used in ‘Silence surrounds us’?

Answer: a) The speaker says ‘Silence surrounds us’ because the father and son are like strangers
to each other and even in the presence of each other there is silence and lack of communication.
b) The speaker wishes for his son to return home. It reminds us of the proverbial son who after
leaving home and experiencing the world outside decides to return home to his family who are
still willing to welcome him back.
c) The poetic device is Alliteration.

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
This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share
a) What does the speaker mean by ‘seed’? Why is he so sure?
b) How do you think the two –father and son exist?
c) Why is the father complaining so much about his son?

Answer: a) By ‘seed’ the speaker means that he is the father who has missed the link with his son
somehow and seems to have sown the seed where there is no sense of belonging. He refers to the
upbringing of son and is sure that there is no communication between them.
b) The two, father and son exist like total strangers with a wide gap of communication between
them. There is no reference to any conflict but there is unhappiness because of lack of
understanding.
c) The father is complaining so much about the son. This is evident from the fact that the father
is repeatedly referring to a lack of understanding and communication between them.

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 when small.
a) Name the poem and the poet. Who is the speaker in these lines?
b) What does the speaker reveal? Does it strike odd? Why? Why not?
c) What does the speaker intend to do?

Answer: a) The name of the poem is ‘Father to Son’. The poet is Elizabeth Jennings. The speaker
in these lines is the father.
b) The speaker reveals that even though he and his son have lived under the same roof for many
years, there is not much understanding between the two. It strikes as odd because a father and
son should not have a strained relationship like the one mentioned in the lines.
c) The speaker intends to make an effort to build up a relationship with his son and make it as
good as it was when the son was small.