A great philosopher and a writer, George Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it”. This phrase by Santayana has deeply touched many people’s hearts and encouraged them to look back at their past. Everyone has a shameful history that one desperately endeavours to hide and ignore, or sometimes forced to hide and ignore. However, whatever the reason might be, hiding and ignoring is definitely not the wisest solution to one’s problem, because it often initiates bigger problems. One must accept to face the past and truly learn from past mistakes in order to prevent the repeating of the same mistakes. The novel, The Piano Man’s Daughter deals this idea of learning from past mistakes, and the author Timothy Findley expands …show more content…
this idea even further into the possibility of inheriting the same mistake to the next generation.
The Piano Man’s Daughter is narrated by the protagonist, Charlie Killworth, and is about Charlie tracing back his mentally ill mother, Lily Killworth’s faded memory to find out who his father is. As Charlie continues his journey of finding his father, truths that have been hidden and ignored for multiple generations begin to get revealed. Through the story of Charlie’s family, Findley explores the importance of learning from mistakes of the past and how essential it is to pass that knowledge onto the next generation to improve the cycle of life.
A truth must be revealed, or whoever is not aware of the truth will suffer from it. In The Piano Man’s Daughter, the author Timothy Findley uses the story of a long hidden truth about uncle John Fagan and his illness to emphasize the significance of revealing the truth. Ever since the
discovery of Lily’s mental illness, Lily’s mother, Edith endlessly wonders where Lily’s illness came from and foolishly blames herself for everything. When Edith finally has the courage to ask her mother, Eliza for the possibility of Lily inheriting her illness from someone else in the family, Eliza answers with a long hidden truth about her uncle. Eliza begins with an apology for hiding the truth for so long, “I’ve always lied about this. Lied. Deliberately… I’m sorry, Ede. I’m sorry, my darling” (119) and confides that her uncle, John Fagan had suffered from a very similar mental illness as Lily. Eliza’s unexpected answer shocks and overwhelms Edith, but yet gives her a sense of relieving. Although Eliza’s answer does not change anything about Lily or her illness, it still removes a big part of Edith’s anxiety and concerns for Lily, because at least, she now knows the reason behind Lily’s illness. If Eliza never revealed the truth about uncle John Fagan to Edith, Edith must have lived a miserable life, feeling guilty endlessly for giving birth to a mentally ill child and watch her child go through such pain and suffering. The relief gives Edith awareness and assurance which finally gives Edith freedom from guilt and the unnecessary concerns for Lily. Eliza and Edith are the clear evidence which demonstrates that a hidden truth can have a negative impact on someone who is not aware of the truth. When one chooses not to learn from a mistake and abandons it, it will eventually pass down to his/her next generation and the same mistake will repeat. Eliza, after revealing about uncle John Fagan’s illness, confesses another shocking truth; that uncle John Fagan was locked in an attic for his whole life. “This was the Dublin attic where Uncle John Fagan spent the whole of his adult life. Hidden—but not in hiding”. (120) As evident in this quote, uncle John Fagan is a disgrace to his family, even to this day, because of his illness, and therefore was locked and hidden in an attic, and unseen to others for his whole life. It is clearly wrong and inhumane to forcibly lock a disabled person and hide him/her away from the society, for having a disability. Unfortunately, this ignorant incident repeats, when Lily’s step father, Frederick locks Lily up in an attic just like uncle John Fagan, to avoid people’s attention on Lily. To a man like Frederick, who is a cold-hearted and a selfish man, who only cares about his own dignity and wealth, he sees Lily as just another obstacle he needs to eliminate to maintain his reputation. Edith, who is now aware of the story of uncle John Fagan and learnt the lesson from her older generation’s mistake, desperately attempts to stop her husband, Frederick. However, Frederick obviously does not listen and upsets Edith, “‘Gain control of yourself. It isn’t as if she has to live up there.’ ‘A holding room? A holding room! Damn you!’” (240) The main reason why uncle John Fagan was hidden is because society discriminates towards people with disabilities and labels them shameful and disgraceful. If someone taught Frederick earlier that the old customs of thinking about people with disabilities is ignorant and wrong, this mistake would have never repeated. In another word, Frederick is the victim of his older generation who passed on the wrong mindsets and attitudes towards disabled people. Through Frederick, Findley shows the heredity of mistakes from generations to generations and its repetition. The unresolved suffering or unfinished issue from the previous generation does not only repeat in the next generation, but it also scars the next generation. The most unfortunate victim of Lily’s illness besides herself is her son, Charlie. Lily and her illness always limit Charlie and takes away his freedom. “Mother let go of my hand. I was free to adopt my own pace”. (385) In this quote, Charlie indirectly expresses his repressed emotions he had to endure from Lily, and he reveals how he truly feels free, when Lily let go of him. Since of a young age, Charlie is inevitably neglected and raised without a stable and reliable adult figure in his life due to Lily’s mental state. Charlie never has anyone to depend on, and in fact, he becomes someone who his mother depends on. Especially the absence of his father has a devastating impact on Charlie, and he is extremely confused with his own identity caused by the uncertainty of his father’s identity. “As Lily’s son, I can vouch for the fact that she harboured resentment of Tom. Though she never said so, she must have felt as i did, the absence of bothered one could reach out and touch, if only a memory’. (318) Although Charlie does not usually opens up his feelings for his father, it is clear in this quote that he desperately seeks for his father and the role of a father in his life. Meanwhile, Lily only makes Charlie’s life more agonizing with her ridiculous and absurd behaviours and by continuously avoiding Charlie’s questions of his father. However, Lily’s silence does not mean necessarily anything or has any purpose, because in fact, Lily stays silent, because she does not even know the answers herself. The unresolved issues in Lily’s past eventually scars Charlie to become a father, because Charlie is afraid that he will once again hand over the confused, frustrated, and lonely childhood he had to his child. In The Piano Man’s Daughter, Findley uses Charlie to represent the new generation who ends up dealing with his old generation’s unresolved and unfinished issues, and show how tremendously the new generation can suffer. When one fully understands and learns from the previous generation’s mistake, he or she can finally continue the generation in confidence for knowing that they will never let the same mistake repeat again. Charlie spends his whole childhood suffering with his identity, cause by the absence of his father. After a long journey of searching for his father, Charlie finally discovers who his father is. “Your father was my husband—Karl. Karl Hess. Your name is Hess—if you want it”. (476) “You look like him Charlie. You have his back. You have his head. You have his eyes” (477) and “Karl belonged there too, in his way. With his music—and his generous heart”. (477) As evident in these quotes, Charlie discovers that they do not only share similar physical traits, but also that he inherited his musical talent from his father. Charlie’s musical talent has such a great significance in his life, because during the dark times of his life, his musical talent is the one of the few things that provide him a strong sense of confidence, and acknowledgement and recognition from others. Charlie also often uses music metaphorically to describe his complicated emotions. Charlie’s realization of how such a big part of his life; music is from his father, gives his life a deeper meaning, and it assures that Karl is actually his father. As Charlie’s confused identity becomes clear, and his life begins to make more sense when he also finds out that his father is the one who financially supported him throughout his school.
The Piano Lesson written by August Wilson is a work that struggles to suggest how best African Americans can handle their heritage and how they can best put their history to use. This problem is important to the development of theme throughout the work and is fueled by the two key players of the drama: Berniece and Boy Willie. These siblings, who begin with opposing views on what to do with a precious family heirloom, although both protagonists in the drama, serve akin to foils of one another. Their similarities and differences help the audience to understand each individual more fully and to comprehend the theme that one must find balance between deserting and preserving the past in order to pursue the future, that both too greatly honoring or too greatly guarding the past can ruin opportunities in the present and the future.
Man must not only remember his past, but also choose to remember it as it really happened—for, to again quote Eliot, “What might have been is an abstraction" (175). Fantasizing about an abstract, idealized past will never give success i...
Bechdel decides to live her reality and be her true self. After she reveals this information to her parents, her mother reveals the truth about her father. Bechdel’s father had affairs with many other men throughout his lifetime. Bechdel is shocked and does not understand how her father was able to do that for so long. When Bechdel realizes this, she instantly feels as if now she may be able to connect with her father. Her father was living behind the appearance of the perfect husband and man to hide his actual sexuality of being gay. She feels as if they can connect through their changing sexuality, even though she has decided to come out while her father has
Boy Willie is the protagonist in the play The Piano Lesson, which is written by August Wilson. He is a foil character to his sister Berniece. He wants to sell the family piano. His biggest obstacle is his past, and his sister. Berniece wants to salvage the piano and keep it as a namesake. The quarrels revolving around legacies is the central conflict of the play. Boy Willie’s “Super-objective” contains two parts: fear and legacy resulting in memory.
“Oh, it was a mistake.” People always say that and a large number of people don’t learn from their mistakes. Same mistakes keep happening even though the world keeps on saying I promise. People just let things happen because they are selfish and full of greed. There is a book called “Night”. This book shows the greed and selfishness which leads to a disaster that will hurt millions of people. The question is why is it important for young people today to read Night? The answer is we should learn the mistakes from the past and take it seriously and take actions not only by saying I will not do it again. We should succor the victim of oppression and tyranny by being on their side and do what is right. I believe repeating the past is the worst thing you can do.
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth” (Buddha). The power and importance of the truth are that it will always be discovered. In Oedipus and Minority Report people think the truth is necessary to solve their problems. However, when the truth is revealed the outcome damages the character. In the play and film, the characters feel as if they cannot live without knowing the truth.
“There is something silent under every person…” (vii) John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning play, Doubt, says and is these words that hook us to the doubt of knowing that every person hides a secret. Set in 1964 when The Liberal coalition took control, the play carries a dilemma of the reputation of a priest, Father Flynn, where is unknown if he has had any improper relationship with a black student Donald Muller, in a solely white Catholic School. However is hard to interpret the truth of the story because Shanley maintains a secret in every part of the play making the audience pay close attention to play and making them doubt about what they think the true is. Although Shanley does a really good job in making the audience doubt, it is obviously that Father Flynn is guilty of made improper advancement toward not only Donald Muller but to William London and other children at his earlier parish.
“Forgive and forget” is a common phrase in our society. However, one may argue that mistakes are never truly forgotten. The Kite Runner suggests that the best way to resolve your past and make up for your mistakes is through doing good. Through Rahim Khan’s wisdom, the actions of Baba, and the journey of Amir, Khaled Hosseini illustrates that the need for redemption, due to unresolved guilt, can haunt someone throughout their life.
An issue which is mentioned throughout the story is the concept of “Ignorance is bliss”, which is an old cliche meaning what we don’t know can’t hurt us. While massaging his naked female neighbor’s body, the narrator is asked if he’s going to tell his mother. No, he answers. “So you even know that certain things are better left unsaid! You really are a devil” (Mahfouz, 13). The neighbor makes the obvious point that sometimes there are things that don’t have to be repeated, for the benefit of all the parties involved. Some might argue that the Truth will always come out, and by hiding it someone will end up being affected by it much more later on. But that is only if the information does get repeated. Knowledge doesn’t always have to be repeated, as was shown by our narrator and his neighbor. If the narrator had told his mother, would any of the parties benefit from this knowledge?
The author explains father and daughter bond. The girl is eleven years old, and her father teaches her chess on this age because his father taught him when he became the same age as the girl. He thinks he knows a lot bout chess, so he wants his daughter to become a good player like him. The girl spends most of her free time with her daddy playing chess, and she tells her
As the top-selling buyer at Posh Style Studios, I know for a film to be exceedingly preferential, the audience’s interest is the key. Without the interest of your audience, you cannot achieve the primary goal: sales. In the best interests of Posh Style Studios, we are gratified to bring before you, your next immense sensation: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. The beguiling title refers to the time period upon which the central character, Louise Mallard, perceives that her husband is dead and then learns that he is after all, alive. In "The Story of an Hour", there are a number of literary elements that influence the story, having the audience on their toes for what will transpire next. The story's structure is also constructed on tongue-in-cheek elements. Kate Chopin uses irony to make the story a tease to the audience. The audience is forced to assume about what little is known, what they want to know, and what really is happening. This film will appeal to countless audiences as they absorb the pros and cons of communication, time...
“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.”
I could say without doubt that both my grades and my sporting achievements caused great satisfaction and pride to my parents. As a child I could perceive it, and these events helped to reinforced and molded future behaviors. During my teenage years come to I had much difficulty with love relationships even at time having inferiority complex after a breakup. My relationship with my father was not good until I reached adulthood, when I decided to take the initiative to improve it. Although I forgave my father, the shame of the slap is a ghost that hunts me once in a while till this day. Research studies conducted with adults show that intense vivid memories on autobiographical memory are repeated every decade; these studies also provide support for the psychosocial development theory of Erikson, (Conway & Holmes,
His daughter is named Mary Cochran. She is a young girl of eighteen years of age. She has a lot going on in her life, and with no mother to help her along her way, and a father who is distant, she is having trouble getting by in life. Mary likes to go on walks around their town of Huntersberg to do a lot of thinking and to try and clear her mind (English).
The Piano gave me a great understanding of true love and the hardships that came along with it. The movie was very well put together, and I learned a great deal from the production. The Piano had some good instances of well lit up shots, along with some good symbolism which, I will explain about in the following report. For instance there was a scene in the movie involving Adas’ young daughter where all of a sudden a cartoon just appears out of nowhere. I believe the producer was relating the cartoon in this sequence to the way she was taking what was going on in. Another example of symbolism in this film is when Ada the woman who owns the piano goes into George Baines’ home on the island where her piano is at the present time. There they arrange a deal so that Ada will get her Piano back and Mr. Baines will get a little something as well. He suggests that she comes over basically religiously for every key on The Piano for him to seduce her but she quickly denies his request. She does not speak throughout the majority of the movie, and has not said a word, so as soon as he makes his request she shuts him down immediately and quickly points at her black dress indicating that she would only come over and teach him how to play for as many black keys there are and then she could get her piano back. Now the symbolism that I was getting at is how the keys were black and in most movies black is the dark color symbolizing evil.