Character Analysis: The Prodigal Son

The essay examines a truly complicated father-son relationship because Baldwin was too young and naive to completely understand the reason why his father acted the way he did. With Baldwin’s lack of understanding of his father, it made him grow up to dislike him, but blind to what his dad’s reasoning to why he acted the way he did towards

This, in turn, caused Troy 's mother to abandon him, leaving him without love from a parent or anyone to show him the correct way to treat females, a sin that affects his relationship with Rose as an adult. His father 's treatment of Troy made Troy believe there was more to his suffering than what was humanly possible "The gal jumped and run off...and when my daddy turned to face me, I could see why the devil had never come to get him...cause he was the devil himself"(Wilson 52).This metaphor used by Troy, adds a certain weight to the gravity of his situation as a teen. His father wasn 't just cruel but was the devil, a symbol of pure hate and all evil.

He uses “his brother” to show the family influences to both him and his brother. As states in the the story “ Mieyo, on the other hand, was casting himself into deeper and deeper isolation, into a place where I could not help him as I once did as a kid brother”(201). Baca mentions “as I once did” which hints that he knows what his brother faces because they have the same issue that they hardly communicate to others. And this shows Baca no longer puts himself into deeper and deeper isolation. He overcomes what his brother is struggling right now.

Christ begins this parable with the younger son requesting his inheritance. “And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.” The younger son feels he is free from his father’s authority and embarks on a journey that is filled with reckless behavior that leaves him homeless. It is in this humble state that he reflects on his faith, asks for forgiveness, and is rewarded a king’s welcome upon his return.

Throughout Wiesel’s childhood, his father never played a large role in his life and was described as a “rather unsentimental man” (Wiesel 2). The relationship between Elie Wiesel and his father, before they know the horror that awaits them, is very dull and in no way meaningful. Wiesel’s father does not only have a distant relationship with Weisel, but also with the rest of the family, which Wiesel realizes when he notes, “He [Wiesel’s father] was more concerned with others than with his own family”(2). In a way, Wiesel’s father even acts somewhat selfish when he does not allow young Wiesel to study the cabbala, which

The speaker’s tone is regretful about the way he has treated his father. He notes that he would “indifferently” (Line 10) speak to his father, not acknowledging the work his father did for him. The sense of regret is shown in the repetition of “What did I know, what did I know” (line 13), emphasizing how the speaker has matured and can finally see the love within his father’s actions. The speaker’s use of “austere” (line 14) describes the type of love the speaker’s father demonstrated, a strict and more formal kind of love. “Those Winter Sundays” in its core is telling the story of familial love and how love does not always have to be verbalized, but can be shown in small acts of kindness.

Baba neglected Amir, which caused him to make poor decisions, while vying for his father’s love. Amir finds his true self and in the end his relationship with Baba helped to form him into the man he was at the end of the novel, one Baba is proud of. A loving and empathetic fatherly figure is necessary in a son’s

Mccandless sense of self confidence while trying to find his identity helped him to progress in life, but was also his greatest downfall; Into the Wild demonstrates self confidence as not an unacceptable trait to have, but the significance of the negative or positive effects it can possess. Confidence played a big role in Mccandless life, so much that he created relationships with his family and other people that caused him to go on his adventures. Throughout this book Mccandless expresses his hate towards his parents. When he was old enough to realize that his dad had cheated on his mom this particular aspect changed him.

Jonson's son becomes lost to him physically which for the most part causes Jonson to lose his identity as a Father. However, with this being said, Jonson proves that he is still very much a Father as he expresses his regret and remorse over his son's death exclaiming 'O could i lose all father now!'. Jonson's tone here reflecf hope and displays his strong desire to lose his identity and with it all associations and memories he had of being a Father - clearly as his love for him means he misses him dearly. In addition to this, Jonson's love is shown as he speaks of his son as his 'Loved boy' and more importantly 'His best piece of poetry'. His speech here holds a great amount of significance as his referral to himself in the third person by using the word 'he' suggests that this is how he himself expects others to view his son.

Julian Baggini iterates that while “happiness is important… it’s not everything; it’s worth having but hard to possess,” though he also admits that happiness’ role in life’s meaning is “so unclear,” (90). It is evident that Miller mirrors this sentiment--his main character, Willy Loman, devotes his entire life to achieving “happiness” through personal success. However, Miller depicts Willy’s goal, pursuing happiness as the main purpose of life, in a very tragic manner. Willy is greatly unable to achieve his goals. And, even in death, he did not obtain happiness or even guarantee his sons’ happiness, though he ends his life just because there is a possibility that his death may inadvertently bring success, and with it, happiness, to his family.

Wake up, they’re going to throw you out the side!” (pg 99) shows the reader that midway through the story Elie still really cared about his father and did not want him to die. He still had hope that his dad could survive. However, this quote at the end of the story, “I no longer thought of my father,” (pg 113) showed that he lost all hope and only thought about himself and his own health due to the circumstances. Also, Elie was not the only son going through

For both of them, they are “each other’s world, entire” (6). Nothing or no one else matters because they can only trust and love each other. As the man 's wife points out before her suicide, "the boy was all that stood between him and death" (25). In other words, the man 's thirst for survival is fueled by the love for his son. While the man may expect his own death, he lives in order to seek life for the boy.

During the final days of Eliezer’s father’s death, Elie’s father completely depends on Elie to bring him food, water, and keep him protected. When Eliezer discovers that his father has been taken away, he thinks to himself, “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!...” (Wiesel, 112) When Elie searches through his “feeble conscience”, or weak conscience, his mind is incapable of feeling anything towards his father.

The character that interest me in The Nine Guardians is Ernesto. Ernesto is the bastard son of Cesar’s brother and likes to keep his thoughts to himself but wants Cesar approval because he looks up to Cesar. Ernesto is a dynamic character in the story because in the beginning he is a bastard son then to a future teacher in the Arguellos family. Since Ernesto is a bastard son he didn’t change his thoughts about his father even though from his body language it showed that he was happy to be his son. In Nine Guardians Ernesto’s feelings to his father, “yet in spite of everything he had loved the man, who had never consented to be anything more than a stranger to his son” (82).

Willy Loman was a loving husband, good friend and most importantly, an amazing father. Regret fills my heart to the brim, the only thought that keeps running through my mind is what if I would’ve been there for my father. I wish the last words I spoke to my father were different and the last things I did to change my father were different. Willy’s decision to take his own life is both incomprehensible and confusing. Perhaps Willy’s priorities seemed to have shifted out of place as the years went on.