‘Like father, like son ' is a phrase known widely among people. It means that fathers and sons resemble each other, and sons tend to do what fathers did before them. Children who are in their learning stage, mostly aged about two to three years old, spend most of their time with their parents. Children learn how they should behave or act by looking and mimicking their parents. By doing that, children are becoming one step closer to becoming like their parents. In both books, The Road and Fun Home, as the stories get closer to the final chapter, the children develop their identity similar to their father. However, the children in both texts develop their father-like identity in a different way. In The Road, the father continually teaches his …show more content…
While his father was prepared for the survival, the child was ignorant about the apocalyptic world. He was vulnerable most of the time. However, the son was eager to help others who desperately needed the hand. Even though it is righteous action to help people, the father made him not to take such actions due to possibilities of putting them in danger. "He was as burnt looking as the country, his clothing scorched and black. One of his eyes was burnt shut and his hair was but a nitty wig of ash upon his blackened skull. As they passed, he looked down. As if he 'd done something wrong. His shoes were bound up with wire and coated with road tar and he sat there in silence, bent over in his rags. The boy kept looking back. Papa? He whispered. What is wrong with the man? He 's been struck by lightning. Can 't we help him? Papa? No, We can 't help him. The boy kept pulling at his coat. Papa? He said. Stop it. Can 't we help him, Papa? No. We can 't help him. There 's nothing to be done for him." (McCarthy 49,50). In this quote, the boy is confused about the fact that his father would not help the injured man. The father knew that helping the guy who got struck by lightning could have a devastating impact on themselves because they are also short on food and supplies. He had to make his son stop being kind to teach him how to survive. In this sense, the child can learn not to interact with …show more content…
It was a surprise because her identity is not learned from Bruce. It is identity discovered by herself that started from her curiosity. When she realized that she was a lesbian, Alison decides to write a letter to her parents. Because she was so confident about being homosexual, Alison was not afraid to talk to her parents. Despite her expectation, her mother disapproves her homosexuality. "I imagine that, if in the long run, your choice turns out to be a serious one, I could live with it, but I truly hope that this does not happen. There are dangers that your idealistic outlook seems not to have faced." (Bechdel 77). This was because her mother, Helen knew Bruce was having gay affairs with teenage boys and was shocked to have another homosexual person in the family. If she was okay to live with her husband and her daughter to be homosexual, she would not have thought of a divorce with Bruce. For the most of the time, Alison did not know her father was gay before Helen told her through the phone call that Bruce is very much like her daughter. Even though they lived a life different from each other, There a lot of things in common besides being homosexual. Alison and Bruce both liked to refer their life to fiction. In her autobiography, Alison often compares her relationship between her father to literature. For example, the first chapter begins with a
Alison’s relationship with her father was crucial for her to discover that she was a lesbian. Her father had so many weird gestures and actions that made her figure out he might be gay. On page 5 of the book, he said: “Wash these old curtains so we can put up the hand-embroidered lace ones I found in Mrs. Strump’s attic” (Bechdel 5). That kind of comments made him seem weird not directly homosexual but not what a heterosexual man should have said. After his death, she found out from her mom that he had affairs with men in the past. This made Alison realize that she
Every family has secrets. Taboo secrets are typically the one's we'd like to keep hidden the most. Unfortunately, what's done in the dark always finds itself resurfacing to the light. In Allison Bechdel "Fun Home", she recollects the memories that impacted her life the most when she was in the stage of discovering her true self. The memories we remember the most tend to play a major role in our life development. For Allison, one well-kept secret that her father contained well from her, unraveled many memories of the truth that laid before her eyes.
Bruce, an “Old Father, Old Artificer,” uses his art form as a way of whitewashing his past memories and faults. The exclamation of the woman shows the extent her father has covered up the truth. He has put many unneeded items and decorations in the house, distracting people that visit. Alison likes things functional, while Bruce likes things very elaborate and over the top, not needed. These decorations have made people confused from what is there and what is not.
In Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Bechdel uses the theme of appearance versus reality to highlight her relationship with her father. Bechdel utilizes her illustrations and short sentences to reveal these things about herself and her father. Bechdel opens her memoir with a chapter entitled “Old Father, Old Artificer”. Bechdel refers to her father, Bruce Bechdel, as an artificer because she sees him as a skilled craftsman. Bechdel describes, “His greatest achievement, arguably, was his monomaniacal restoration of our old house.” (Bechdel 4). Her father restored their old house to make it look like a huge mansion. Bechdel knows that this is just the appearance of their household because it is not an accurate representation of their family life inside the house. Bruce created an appearance that was the opposite of reality to cover up the actual wealth of their family. He hides the fact that his family may not be as wealthy and perfect as they appear to be. In this case, Bruce reveals he believes that appearance is more important than the reality of a situation. Appearance is also important on the inside of the home as well. Bechdel mentions, “Sometimes, when things were going well, I
In Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel entitled Fun Home, the author expresses her life in a comical manner where she explains the relationship between her and her family, pointedly her father who acts as a father figure to the family as she undergoes her exhaustive search for sexuality. Furthermore, the story describes the relationship between a daughter and a father with inversed gender roles as sexuality is questioned. Throughout the novel, the author suggests that one’s identity is impacted by their environment because one’s true self is created through the ability of a person to distinguish reality from fictional despotism.
...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up
Adams Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Orphan Master’s Son, amazingly depicts the disturbing lives of North Koreans and government horrors through its simplistic language with relatable characters. The Orphan Master’s Son takes place in North Korea and revolves around Jun Do, who is the son of an orphan master, but who receives the shame that Koreans place on orphans. Then he enters the military where he learns different fighting tactics and becomes a professional kidnapper for the North Koreans. For his reward, the government assigns Jun Do to a listening position on a fishing boat where he becomes a hero for fighting the Americans with a story that the fishing crew and he invented to keep from getting placed in a prison camp after to one of their crewmates defects. Jun Do then goes to Texas as a translator, where he learns about freedom and other cultures. When the mission fails the government sends him to a camp where Jun Do’s name and identity die.
The role of a father could be a difficult task when raising a son. The ideal relationship between father and son perhaps may be; the father sets the rules and the son obeys them respectfully. However it is quite difficult to balance a healthy relationship between father and son, because of what a father expects from his son. For instance in the narratives, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences” both Willy and Troy are fathers who have a difficult time in earning respect from their sons, and being a role model for them. Between, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences,” both protagonists, Willy and Troy both depict the role of a father in distinctive ways; however, in their struggle, Willy is the more sympathetic of the two.
...within her household. Within her own household, Alison was uncomfortable of being herself; in fact, at times she felt that she almost had no say in the selecting items such as clothes. This was also quite complex when it came to her subjectivity as well. Instances such as the time Bruce wanted Alison to wear a particular dress to a wedding, or when he insisted for her to were a particular set of pearls, would play a pivotal role in her sexual self development. Other factors such as her relationship with her girlfriend and the news she would find out following her fathers death seemed to also play an important part. Alison Bechdel’s battle in her sexual self-development was one full of anguish and pain because of all of its complexities but she now presents the confidence in herself and her sexuality to present in her eloquent and impactful graphic novel, Fun Home.
Alison is described as young and wild. She is like an animal: " Thereto she koude skippe and make game/ As any kyde or calf folwynge his dame" (I. 3259-60). We know that she would be willing to go along with any idea as long as it is "fun". We can see her childish immaturity in the scenes where she lets Absalom "kiss" her. We do not learn the details of her marriage such as her feeling toward John, her husband. We simply know that it is a mis-matched marriage with a large age gap between them.
... The Miller portrays Alison as a "wild and young" (205) woman throughout the entire tale, making it clear that she does not respect the relationship with her husband at all. It can also suggest that she is not an angel or the “good wife” that she likes to pretend to be. It is obvious that Alison likes to use her beauty and body in ways to make it easier to obtain the things that she desire just like The Wife of Bath indirectly hints in her tale.
...a fresh positive mind which helps them to survive. The boy is young and it’s hard for any child his age to understand the reality of life in certain situations that is why the man consistently attempts to help the boy understand what they are going through and what it is going to take to survive.
“Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love of a free man is never safe” (206). The term “free man” is the sense that the man exists only for himself, for the indulgence of his desires and impulses; in this case, the free man is Cholly. By the end of the novel, he has nothing left to lose. Cholly and Pecola both search for love and acceptance in a world where African-Americans deny and devalue their own race. The element of Cholly within Pecola is shown as Toni Morrison unravels Cholly’s childhood and Pecola’s current situation. Both father and daughter are victims of a society still plagued by the premise of slavery and the mode of white inferiority. Cholly’s rape of Pecola describes the psychological, social, and personal devaluation by white society that raped Cholly his entire life.
I perceive the value of human life as invaluable. Your text enables me to envision how life would be without the comfort and security of civilization. The man’s views on life are judged by his experiences and his sole objective is to keep him and the boy alive. The father repeatedly promises himself and the boy that he would do anything for him. “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you.” (pg 80).The boy returns the act of concern that the man has for him. The boy puts a large emphasis on that the man also must eat and drink ‘you to’. His compassion and willingness to help others in need brings conflict between him and his father. “Cant we help him? Papa? No. We cant help him.” (pg 51) The difference of the father’s practicability and the boy’s compassion is predominant. The text reinforces the idea that all life is sacred and important.
John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost and Mark Water’s movie Mean Girls display how different parental styles affect children. Parents are important characters in all works, whether it be a novel, play, movie, epic, or television show. As a result of the many mediums in which parents are portrayed, often different representations of parents can appear. This is the case with Paradise Lost and Mean Girls. Not only do these works showcase the different ways parental figures govern over children, but they also show how the reactions children have to these controls can be very similar even in different situations. As is apparent with the parent and/or divine leader roles of God the Father and Satan in Paradise Lost and Mrs. George and Mr. and Mrs. Heron in Mean Girls. An analysis of both Paradise Lost and Mean Girls