The impact of a discovery can permanently reshape an individual’s outlook of others. The poem ‘My Father Began as a God’ explores the impact of a provocative discovery the protagonist makes about his father. At the beginning of the poem, the young protagonist views his father as an omnipotent figure – “my father began as a god”. He looked up to him and his ‘heroic tales’. The comparison of his father to a God illustrates to the reader/s, the exaggerated perspective the young boy had of his father. The biblical allusion of “brought down from Sinai” in the next line compares the father to Moses, further reinforcing his exaggerated views of him. As the child begins to mature, he discovers the confronting truth about his father. He discovers that
Why I Left the Church” by Richard Garcia is a poem that explores the ongoing and conflicting relationship between a child’s fantasy and the Church. Although the majority of the text is told in present tense, readers are put through the lenses of a young boy who contemplates the legitimacy of the restricting and constricting nature of worship. It is a narrative that mixes a realist approach of storytelling with a fantasy twist that goes from literal metaphors to figurative metaphors in the description of why the narrator left the church. The poet presents the issue of childhood innocence and preset mindsets created by the Church using strong metaphors and imagery that appeal to all the senses.
As a boy he tells the story of how a once a unstoppable child, that couldn’t sit still for a short period of time and a spirit unbound, one who suffered from various developmental, and anger issue. He is, a “bolt of lightning in our backyard”, “Chaotic wind of the gods”. He also recalls instances like when Gabriel broke a lamp, almost breaking the door right off the hinges, hiding in a closet so he wouldn’t have to go to school; but Gabriel was always caught. He also says, "Some nights I could not tell/If he was the wrecking ball / Or the building it crashed into."
The way we are brought up as a child can have an impact on how we perceive things in our adulthood, which sometimes can have a negative outcome resulting in severe or mild trauma, or a positive outcome. This is the case in Arturo Islas’ The Rain God. Through the perspective of psychoanalytic criticism, Juanita’s father caused her scarring trauma that affected her relationship with her husband and family members.
We are born, and life engulfs us into itself whether we like it or not, we live day to day wishing things could happen, wishing we could do things, imaging a perfect world in which there was no conflict, we wish children didn’t have to die so young, but soon enough it’ll happen to us; we die, and there isn’t an awful lot that we as humans can do about it. It is simply the cycle of life.
Kooser begins his tribute to his father by acknowledging that his father was a tremendously loving and caring man that worked hard to support his family. Ever “since I entered my fifties, I have begun to see my father’s hands out at the end” of mine waiting for my help. He has provided everything Kooser needed to
The father sees himself asking if his child is a “god…that [the father] sites mute before [him,” and then asking if he himself is “a god in that [he] should never disappoint?” The father first describes his child as a god because he feels that his son is a being that is untouchable, and it to be able to fully connect with him is something the father does not comprehend. The father then describes himself as a god, asking if he failed to be like a god in his child’s eyes and be perfect in every way. Another metaphor in the poem are the books. The father uses books to connect with his son, much like how Christians use the Bible, a book, to connect with their God. The Bible is something that can have a positive influence on the lives of Christians and support them through their lives all through the use of words. This is similar to the books the father uses. The father does not know how to be a positive influence on his son, so he uses books as a medium to communicate with his son due to the fact that he cannot think of what to say himself. By using these metaphors, the father is comparing his and his child’s relationship to one of a mortal and a god: a relationship that is not familial love, but rather one of a love or worship for a divine being. The father feels that he cannot have a good relationship with his son because his child is something that he cannot understand no matter how hard he tries. He is also worried that he will never live up to his son’s expectations and will fail to support
As the boy has no one to trust and believe in except his father, he is only willing to live if his father remains with him. When the man realizes he is unable to keep on the journey with the boy, he refuses to leave the man by answering “you’re going to be okay, papa. I want to be with you” when he asks him to “keep going south [and] do everything the way [they] did it” (278). From an adolescent perspective, he fears the uneasiness of being without his father who is the only support of him. As his father is the only person whom he can depend on and receive love from, he is incapable to imagine how to survive in loneliness. Even though the father and son are the essential for each other, they are divergent in terms of personality. The son is a resilient, as well as sensitive and compassionate character compares to his father. In many circumstances, he often shows sympathy towards others while the father is being protective and concerns about keeping alive from danger. Moreover, his priority is to be kind and provide comfort to others other than being harmful. The boy constantly inquires and ensures “[they] wouldn’t ever eat anybody” despite the condition (128). This performs innocence and examines the perspective of being peaceful in the boy’s point of view. Although father and son are the only encourages of each other in isolation, they frequently acquire hope in a despairing
Firstly, one’s identity is largely influenced by the dynamics of one’s relationship with their father throughout their childhood. These dynamics are often established through the various experiences that one shares with a father while growing up. In The Glass Castle and The Kite Runner, Jeannette and Amir have very different relationships with their fathers as children. However the experiences they share with these men undou...
The International Dictionary of Psychology defines a "father figure" as "a man to whom a person looks up and whom he treats like a father.” In this essay I am going to be addressing the significance of this figure by comparing the characters presented in three different pieces of literature: ‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare, ‘Daddy’ by Sylvia Plath and ‘The God of Small Things’ by Arudanthi Roy.
A fatherly attribute is one of the most important positions of a child’s life. The novel and poem show the strained relationship of a father and a child. This novel corresponds to the poem “forgiving our fathers” by Dick Lourie, because of the absences of both their mothers and traits of a poorly influenced father; irrational, critical, and deceitful. It shows the complications of the child's and father’s relationship, but when they forgive their fathers, what do they have left? The fathers portrayed in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and “forgiving our fathers” by Dick Lourie demonstrates the characteristics that influence their children, therefore, resulting their mentality.
Discovery has the power to transform individual’s lives to allow the individual to re-discover themselves and therefore give them a different perspective on their own life. This concept is demonstrated in William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’ and Julio Cortazar’s short story ‘The Night Face Up’. Shakespeare through the main protagonist, Prospero demonstrates that discoveries can cause individuals to become merciful and cooperative, even if they were out for revenge initially. In contrast Cortazar through his nameless protagonist conveys that the discovery of tragedy and danger can transform the individual into one who escapes reality to the extreme. Through both Prospero and the nameless protagonists, different transformations are illustrated
We long to know how it feels to be adventurous, accepted, or cheerful. Not only do we yearn for good sensations, but we desire to know what it is like to be confused, brokenhearted, or enraged in problematic situations we might not encounter within our own lives. Through literature, we are capable of experiencing such emotions wherever we may stand in our physical condition. When reading “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”, we feel what it is like to be rebellious and run off on our own even if we would never dare to do so personally (Luke 224). When circumstances became difficult for the youngest son, he returned home. “But when he was a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion on him, and ran, and felon his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 225). Although the son had rejected him, the father still showed him compassion and adoration when he returned. I have read this parable many times and each time I still have the feeling that I am accepted, forgiven, and loved just like the Prodigal Son. Although literature pleases us, it also educates us in preparation of real life
It was inevitable that, over the course of events in this world, there would be times in which people made mistakes resulting in their own unfortunate degeneracy. “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” supports this thought and illustrates the story of a son who objects to his father’s ways of life. The youngest son becomes a philanderer but soon realizes that he has made a mistake and must return to his father who open-heartedly welcomes his son back. The father’s generosity elucidates that one must first experience severe hardship before being able to fully understand and accept all that life has to offer. A deep feeling of opposition develops early within the youngest son.
The father is developed mainly using symbolism through diction in the extract. The father is represented using diction that associates him with animal imagery, and displays him as being in control of the situation. The authors use
"Who Is God To Me" God means many different things to many different people. There are a lot of people who believe that there is no such thing as a God. There are people who believe that there is no God because no one has ever seen him. I personally believe that there is a God because of my faith. I have faith in God and I feel that God is real. I have many reasons why I believe in God and who God is to me. But I have three reasons that stand out for me about who God is to me. They are the following: God is always there for me, God is my friend, and God is my creator. These are my three most important reasons of who God is and what God means to me. God has never let me down in my life. Sometimes I feel that God has let me down or that He did not answer my prayers in times that I most needed Him. But I have to realize that everything that God does is for a reason. God has taken a few friends of mine from this Earth at a very young age. I have prayed to God and asked Him why? But I have never seemed to fully understand why. I have come to the conclusion that God works in mysterious ways. I do not think that anyone can fully understand why God does what He does. So for this, I do not feel that God has ever let me down. He just does these things for a reason and if you believe in Him, He will never let you down either. God is the longest lasting friend I have ever had in my life. He was there for me before I was born and He will be there for me after I leave this Earth. God is the best listener also. I can talk to God anywhere at anytime. Every time I want to talk to Him or ask Him a question, He is there for me. Most of my other friends are at least a phone call away, but not God. He has always been there in time of need, even though sometimes I feel like He is not. Even when I do something wrong, He is there to forgive me and set me straight.