Power Relationships in Hughes's "Father and Son" and Lawrence's "The Prussian Officer"
There are many similarities in plot and theme in Langston Hughes’ "Father and Son" and D. H. Lawrence’s "The Prussian Officer." While each story is told in a very different style, the general tone is similar in each. The focal point in each story is a relationship between one man in power, and another man who is a subordinate. The dominant man has generally benevolent feelings towards his subordinate, information which is related to the reader through an omniscient narrator. Due to societal influences, the man in power suppresses this emotion not only from others, but from himself. This suppression later erupts into violence. Colonel Tom ("Father and Son") feels affection for his illegitimate black son, whereas the Prussian officer ("The Prussian Officer") harbors a homoerotic attraction to his orderly. These feelings are socially unacceptable to the point that neither man is capable of admitting this attraction even to himself. A description of oppressive heat occurs in both, increasing the feeling of futility of the younger man’s struggle. The characters seem locked into their situation, and just as the heat is unavoidable, so is the conflict.
The feeling that the dominant male is hiding a secret from those around him is more explicitly stated in "Father and Son." From the very beginning, the narrator informs the reader that Bert is Colonel Tom’s son. "Today his youngest son was coming home….Bert was coming home" (Hughes, "Father" 599). This occurs before the reader realizes that there is a problem in the relationship: that Bert is illegitimate and has a black mother. Additionally, Colonel Tom is hiding his interest, and even pride in this boy who is so similar to him in appearance: "‘He’s too damn much like me,’ the Colonel thought. ‘Quick as hell….Well, anyway, he must be a smart darkie. Got my blood in him’" (Hughes, "Father" 601). On the other hand, in "The Prussian Officer," there is more of an implied denial of the feelings the officer is harboring for his orderly because the officer’s homoerotic attraction is never explicitly stated: "Gradually the officer had become aware of his servant’s young, vigorous, unconscious presence about him….It was like a warm flame upon the older man’s tense, rigid body….And this irritated the Prussian. He did not choose to be touched into life by his servant" (Lawrence, "Prussian" 3).
Not knowing what to do is the worst kind of suffering. The characters in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass suffer as they struggle to make the right decisions. The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass was written by abolitionist former slave Frederick Douglass. The book highlights the factual details about the harsh treatment and the poor living condition of African American people during Slavery. The book also display the dehumanization and the inferiority of African American people. Each character falls in different stages of Lawrence Kohlberg’s “Developmental Stages of Human Moral Reasons.” Kohlberg is an American psychologist best known for his theory of Stages of Moral Development. Colonel Edward Lloyd is in stage one
His poems established him as a well known poet in Harlem. In two of his poems one titled “Mother to Son” and the other “Harlem” both have some comparison and contrast between the two. The poem “Mother to Son” is more of a free lyric flowing poem. In this poem Langston Hughes gets the message across in a powerful attack. The poem is narrated from a mother’s viewpoint and the wisdom she gives her son as read in the following lines:
Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright wrote memoirs recounting their experiences with racism. Though their writing styles are completely different from one another, the subjects they discuss are similar. After reading each piece they have both made me empathize with their feelings, however different their lives are from mine. Their memoirs, My Bondage My Freedom and Black Boy, provide insightful images of the racist and cruel treatment these writers experienced. Despite all of their stylistic differences, after both excerpts I understand the passion they felt for the hatred they endured.
The author Frederick Douglas had two main purposes when writing his memoir, the first one was to demonstrate the harsh and cruel world that slaves lived through during that period. This is exemplified by Douglas when he describes how his masters separated him from his mother and he describes a brutal whipping of Aunt Hester as “ causing blood to blood to run an hour at the time; and this, too, in the presence of her crying children” (Douglas 7). The second purpose that Douglas had to write this memoir was to show how he overcame great pain and challenge. For example during the few chapters where he is loaned to Mr. Covey, Douglas must resist the near constant pain that is inflicted on him,
Firstly, looking at the experiences Douglass describes having while living on Captain Anthony’s plantation, there are several elements detailed that reflect the psychological stresses experienced by American slaves that are relevant to modern researchers. Primarily is the practice of breaking apart family units of slaves in Maryland before they are even twelve months old to which Douglass speculates this is done as a way to destroy the child’s natural affection for their mother. ...
Every relationship is different. Weather one may be in a relationship with a boy, or just a friend, it is different. Even though they are different, the characters in “The Birthmark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “IND AFF” by Fay Weldon are in similar relationships. That is, the male is dominant over the female, and the woman thinks the man is her knight in shining armor. In the beginning of “IND AFF” the unnamed woman thinks her professor, Peter, who she is having an affair with, is her ticket to creating a good thesis and higher standings. Similarly, in “The Birthmark,” Georgiana thinks her husband is her ticket to flawless beauty because he tells her he will remove her birthmark. Obviously, this is not how relationships operate in today’s society. These two relationships compare and contrast with each other as well as with relationships in today’s day-and-age.
Charles Chesnutt’s “The Sheriff’s Children” deals with the subject of race and pedigree in the city of Troy, North Carolina. In Troy, time has almost come to a stand-still as its citizens lament and remember the end of the Civil War. Life becomes more interesting, however, when an old Confederate army captain is murdered. The first time this has happened in well over ten years, the citizens are in a state of shock until the murderer is revealed to potentially be an African-American man named Tom. Then they all go out to form a lynch mob. However, the story is not about the mob, it’s about the sheriff and his conversation with the prisoner, who turns out to be his son. Chesnutt’s story is an example of formalism, but by analyzing the text it is also an example of Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams and unconscious desire.
One of the themes in the novel is the subject of clashing ideals. The main character of the novel, Tim, lives in a divided family who each has their own opinion on the war– the
In contemporary America, the blacks have searched for companionship, success, and freedom, both physical and mental. Even after several years of [the] abolition of slavery, the blacks were not able to see [a white=whites] eye-to-eye. They were still [a puppet=puppets] for the white men?s show. During this era, several blacks tried to achieve success and bring themselves up to the level of whites by conforming to their direct or indirect, reasonable or unreasonable, and degrading or respectful commands. [Focus more on the rebellion/conformity aspects and the specifics of the story as you explain the issue.] In this chapter (?Battle Royal?) of [the] novel [?Invisible Man,?=title format] the narrator conforms to all humiliating orders to get a chance to express his views on ?social equality? and ?social responsibility?. Good thesis statement. The first chapter is like the worst nightmare for the narrator who is a young, graduating Negro boy. He timid[ly] and obedient[ly] comes to a white men?s gathering in a Southern town, where he is to be awarded a scholarship. Together with several other Negroes he is rushed to the front of the ballroom, where a [blonde frightens them by dancing in the nude=ambiguous. They are not afraid of her. They are afraid of the white men who demand that they look at her. That could mean beatings or even death for black men in times past]. Blindfolded, the Negro boys stage a "battle royal," a brawl in which they batter each other to the drunken shouts of the whites. After such [a] humiliating and ghastly experience, the terrified boy delivers a prepared speech of gratitude to his white benefactors.
On the road of life, many obstacles come about that one must overcome to make themself feel complete. The poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes was written in 1922. Langston Hughes was a black writer, whose work started to be published in the 1920s. “Mother to Son,” which shows a black mother telling her son to stay hopeful despite all the hardships one may encounter in life. Here the author is passing a message to the public through this woman of wisdom.The mother tells her son that life has not always been easy for her, yet she is still carrying on. This poem “Mother to Son” has many poetry elements within the poem. The poem shows the message of staying hopeful through the obstacles one may encounter throughout life. Hughes uses metaphors,
The comparison between two poems are best analyzed through the form and meaning of the pieces. “Mother to Son” and “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)” both written by the profound poet Langston Hughes, depicts many similarities and differences between the poems. Between these two poems the reader can identify his flow of writing through analyzing the form and meaning of each line.
Throughout this paper I will discuss ways in which the life of Langston Hughes influenced his writing style and use of symbolism in his poetry, including “Mother to Son” and “Cross.” Langston Hughes enjoys providing an abundance of “twoness” and or duality into his poems. While writing Hughes captures the art and culture of African Americans, race and segregation related issues. Also including, imagery, allusions, ambiguity, irony and a seperation of the speaker and poet. Through Langston's poems his includes symbolism to provide us with his personal thoughts and feelings about what him and his fellow African Americans have to go through just to become equal and free. Hughes did not only write poems, he also participated in several other
Hart, Richard E. "Steinbeck, Johnson, and the Master/Slave Relationship." Ethics, Literature, and Theory: An Introductory Reader. Ed. Stephen K. George. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005. 315-327. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 160. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Throughout the chapter I went on a rollercoaster ride of emotions from excitement for Frederick Douglas, to sadness, and then followed by further excitement. At first I was excited because I believed that Frederick was truly getting a better life. For example, Frederick had exclaimed that his mistress had not liked traditional gestures of a slave showing that he/she was inferior. Furthermore, I had finally felt that things would become good for Frederick when he said that his mistress had started to teach him how to read and write the letters of the alphabet. However, my heart had shattered as everything seemed to change in a matter of a few lines of a few text. For instance, his master had told his mistress that a slave is forbidden from
During this time, African Americans were becoming more culturally and politically evolved. They begin to produce novels, poems and plays. A recurring theme of the time was blatant racial pride and the developing idea that through intellect and creation of literature, art, and music they could challenge the pervading racism and promote free-thinking politics. The art and music that was produced was an imitation of life which they had endured. During this time, life had created the canvas of hate which African Americans used to create an artistic portrayal of their history. It was during this time that Langston Hughes penned his famous poem “Mother to Son” (Hughes,