Father-Son Relationship
The representation of father-son relationships is a key theme many authors have been using to give their works more profundity and meaning. Two works that use the theme of father-son relationships are Hamlet by William Shakespeare and This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie. Love is a substantial theme in the play Hamlet, especially father and son relationship whereby the author uses this relationship to express the personality oh his characters. In Hamlet, the relationship between Hamlet and his deceased father when Hamlet idealizes his father. Hamlet praises and glorifies his deceased father because of the deep affection he had for him. He is attached to his father despite the fact that he is
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dead and this is evident in the conversations he has with his father’s ghost. In addition, he compares him to mythological images which he imagined him to be when he was in the dyadic stage till his adulthood. Hamlet walks with a ghost that looks like his father even after being warned that ghost are evil. He never cared whether he was walking with a ghost, all he knew it was his fathers ghost and he still loved him. However much his mother tried to convince him to love and accept his step father Claudius now the king, Hamlet could not because of the father-son relationship. In Hamlet, father-son relationship is not only between Hamlet and his father, it also exists between Polonius and Laertes and King Fortinbras and his son.
Polonius and Laertes had a father and son relationship that was built on deep respect. Polonius did not want his son to leave Denmark to France, but he has to sacrifice his love for him and let him go. The love of father and son between the King and the Prince of Norway is does not appear much in the story, but it can be seen when Fortinbras seeks for revenge for his father’s death. King Fortinbras was killed by king Hamlet and his son Fortinbras seeks revenge because of the father-son relationship. In Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates how father-son relationship creates a bond that can never die, even if death separates the characters. The play is a tragedy but it represents a bind between fathers and sons and how fathers will always have an effect on their sons even if they are …show more content…
separated. In This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie, the main character Victor had a complicated relationship with the father.
The father son relationship here was complicated and this is evident when Victor’s father leaves him when he was still young. In addition, it is evident when Victor shows awkward feelings about his father. However, when he travelled to claim his father’s body and belongings, the relationship tends to change because, we see him remembering the happy and sad moments they experienced together. Moreover, during this time, Victor is able to reclaim what was good and bad about his father and his feelings change little bit, because Alexie says that after adding up the memories of his father, he smiled. His smiling was an indication that at least he had found peace that was never there in the relationship with his
father. Victor and his father were very distant from each other; this is because, his father was a drunk who either could hurt him or his father. On the other hand, Victor’s father Arnold was a good father to Thomas Builds the fire, instead of his own son Victor. Arnold took good care of Thomas and he was a father figure to him, to Thomas, Arnold was like a father he never had. Therefore, there was a father-son relationship between Arnold and Thomas, yet he was not his real son. Unlike Victor, Thomas had good memories of Arnold, but Victor never liked his father. Thomas and Suzy were taken good care of by Victor’s father and they adored him unlike his son who was never shown any affection by the father. The relationship between father and son in This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona by Sherman Alexie was not the best like in Hamlet. Hamlet was loved by his father and their relationship was very strong despite the fact that he was already dead. Comparably, Victor did not have a good relationship with his son since he was never a good father to him; he only showed fatherly love to outsiders, Thomas Builds the Fire, and Suzy. The father-son relationship in the stories differs completely. In conclusion, the bond between a parent and a child is one of the strongest things in the world. Hamlet and This is What It Means to Say Phoenix both explore the theme of the relationship between parent and child. The relationship between father and son in the above texts shows a strong bond between a parent and a child. The interaction between father and son in these texts are alike and at times contrast greatly, leaving the reader to consider the complexities of family relationships. Hamlet’s father was already dead, but he was attached to him for the rest of his life. On the other hand, Victor was not attached to his father because, he was never there for him and used to hurt him and abandoned him in the end. Nonetheless, after his death, he was able to remember at least something good about his father, but all in all he was affectionate to outsiders, Suzy and Thomas Builds a fire.
In Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “Dead Men’s Path”, the reader is given a glimpse into two different stories but share many similar characteristics of traditions. Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information and cultures within a group of people from generation to generation. However, these two stories will reveal that the protagonists in these stories, Michael from “Dead Men’s Path” and Victor from “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” will ignore their own traditions that they face throughout the story. In other words, the protagonists are westernized and have forgotten their own culture, which reflects the theory of the melting pot. The ignorance of ancestry and traditions brings the worst fates into the lives of the protagonists in each story.
In Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Hamlet and Laertes act as dramatic foils, where their similarities are used to highlight their differences. Each character learns that his father has been murdered and each plots his revenge against the murderer. In the first act of the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s father tells him “Let not
...d the father represents a relationship of love in a loveless world, as the only other relationships that we are presented with in the novel are ones of profound exploitation, as the strong use (and eat) the weak.
His mother's love was shown throughout the beginning of the book so much more than his fathers was. Together the two parents loved him so much it helped him grow and this is why his childhood was so phenomenal. When Victor was sent off to Ingolstadt, he had no real idea of what it was like to be an adult. He was taken care of so well by his mother that once she was away from her parents, her father being at home and his mother being dead, he was not sure what was right and wrong. Victor's curiosity for knowledge is what led him to be a man of science and this is why he came up with the idea to experiment and create a human being from death. Without thinking of the results that were to come, Victor's ambition to become godlike pushed him to finish his project. The end result terrified Victor so badly that even he left him alone. To start, he left him alone in his apartment and when he returned, the monster was gone. “I could hardly believe that that so great a good fortune could have befallen me, but when I became assured that my enemy had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy and ran down to Clerval.” (Shelley 61) This is the first time that Victor does not care for his monster properly. After all of the care that Victor received from his mother, readers would think that Victor would grow up to be just like his parents and be so kind and gentle. Victor is unable to take responsibility of the monster that he created. Victor is prejudiced by the appearance of the monster which leads him to run away from his
In Hamlet, The new king Claudius is able to gain respect from the kingdom. He even steals the love of Hamlet’s mother Gertrude. The old king’s councilor, Polonius, becomes Claudius’s councilor and his best friend. He helps Claudius keep an eye on Hamlet and tries to keep him from finding out anything about his father’s death. Polonius believes that if he helps Claudius that he can make life better for himself and for his daughter and son. But in the end, his actions get him slayed, drive his daughter to insanity, and eventually set...
father's death, then Laertes, Polonius' son, arrives on the scene enraged. and ready to kill Hamlet for what he's done, and just when you thought. things couldn't get any worse, unbeknownst to Hamlet, Claudius has been. plotting to kill him. Talk about your bad days. & nbsp; A duel takes place between Hamlet and Laertes where Laertes, using a poison-tipped sword, cuts Hamlet, thus giving way to his impending. death. Hamlet eventually gets hold of the sword and kills Laertes, then.
New studies show men who did not have a relationship with their father tend to act out in stressful situations (Tobin 1). Father and Son relationships are a crucial part of a man’s life, it shapes who they will become; however, it is in the most strenuous circumstances that, in order to survive, a strong father-son relationship is vital. In Hamlet, a play by William Shakespeare and in the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, Hamlet and Elie are pushed in different ways in trying to help their fathers. Night by Elie Wiesel and Hamlet by William Shakespeare emphasize how necessary a father-son relationship is in a boy’s life.
The Shakespearean play, Hamlet, is a story of revenge and the way the characters in the play respond to grief and the demands of loyalty. The importance of Fortinbras and Laertes in the play is an issue much discussed, analysed and critiqued. Fortinbras and Laertes are parallel characters to Hamlet, and they provide pivotal points on which to compare the actions and emotions of Hamlet throughout the play. They are also important in Hamlet as they are imperative to the plot of the play and the final resolution. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are three young men who are placed in similar circumstances, that is, to avenge their father's deaths. The way the each comes to terms with their grief and how they rise to the call of vengeance is one of main contrasts between the three.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge is very palpable as the reader examines the characters of Hamlet himself, as well as Laertes, son of Polonius, and Fortinbras, prince of Norway and son of the late King Fortinbras. Each of these young characters felt the need to avenge the deaths of their fathers who they felt were untimely killed at the bloody hands of their murderers. However, the way each chose to go about this varies greatly and gives insight into their characters and how they progress throughout the play. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are similar in the fact that each had love, or at least respect, their fathers. Enough to make an attempt to wreak revenge upon their fathers murderers at the risk of their own reputation, freedom, and souls.
Whenever Hamlet denies his true nature, his actions are very harsh. During a heated discussion with his mother Gertrude, he accidentally slays Laertes’ father, Polonius, thinking it to be Claudius. Hamlet quickly brushes it aside. He also sends his friends , Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to their deaths when he learns of Claudius’ plot to have him put to death when he arrived in England as a so called diplomat.
Although each character plots to avenge his father in the play, the motives of Laertes and Fortinbras differ greatly than that of Hamlet. Fortinbras, who schemes to rebuild his father's kingdom, leads thousands of men into battle, attempting to capture a small and worthless piece of Poland. After his uncle warned him against attacking Denmark. The added land will do little to benefit Norway's prosperity, but this campaign may cost "two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats" (4.4.26) . This shows that pride is a driving factor behind Fortinbras' plan because he is willing to put the lives of his countrymen at risk for a minimal gain. Laertes, on the other hand, is compelled to seek revenge because he loses his father and eventually his sister. The root of Laertes' revenge appears to be the love for his family because he proclaims that he will "be revenged / most throughly for [his] father" (4.5...
The relationship between a father and his son can be articulated as without a doubt the most significant relationship that a man can have throughout the duration of his life. To a further extent the relationship between a father and a son can be more than just a simple companionship. Just like a clown fish and a sea anemone, both father and son will rely on each other in order to survive the struggles of their everyday lives. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Gabriele Muccino’s The Pursuit of Happyness both depict a story between a father and son using each other as a means of survival when faced with adversity. When placed in a tough situation father and son must create a symbiotic relationship in order to survive. Upon the duo of father and son can creating a symbiotic relationship, it will result in a mutual dependency on each other. This theme of paternal love is omnipresent given the bond between the two characters.
Parent and children relationships are the main point of a play in many literary works. Through their relationship the reader can understand the conflicts of the play, since the characters play different roles in each other’s lives. These people are usually connected in physical and emotional ways. They can be brother and sister, mother and daughter, or father and son. In “Death of A Salesman,” by Arthur Miller the interaction between Willy Loman and his sons, Biff and Happy, allow Miller to comment on the father-son relationship and conflicts that arise from them. In “ The Glass Menagerie,” by Tennessee Williams shows this in the interaction between Amanda and her children, Laura and Tim.
... the only way to honour his father Polonius is by killing Hamlet. In addition, as Claudius reads the letter from Hamlet to Laertes he says “'Tis Hamlet’s character. “Naked” And in a postscript here, he says “alone.” Can you advise me?” (IV, VII, 52-53). This shows that Claudius takes advantage of Hamlet’s return alone as an opportunity for Laertes to kill him. Through Claudius’s actions the readers observe how he deceives Laertes into killing Hamlet for his own benefit without getting blood on his hands. Furthermore, Claudius’ desperation to kill Hamlet leads to him losing sight of what is important, which is being the king of Denmark, what he originally wanted, instead the lies he told and the manipulation he spread is now taking over. To conclude, it is evident through the play that the words and actions of Claudius have only lead to the spread of deception.
”(153) It becomes clear that the parallels presented throughout the play are there to further illuminate the flaws of Hamlet’s character. Laertes is a hot-headed man looking for revenge. His father was killed by Hamlet and his sister was driven insane due to the series of events that took place because of Hamlet. Like Hamlet, Laertes wants to avenge his father by killing the man who killed Polonius.