Father-Son Relationships

Father-son Relationships

Duy Dang Nguyen

duynguyen2304@cityuniveristy.edu

ELP 73

Jane Cater Instructor

Theme Analysis Essay

Jan 20, 2015

Abstract

The father-son relationship plays a vital role as indispensible part of any boy’s development. Obviously, It reflects all of generational difference relationships between the older and younger generations. The older generations as fathers have been experiencing more happenings in their life so as to using their experiences to control and educating his sons as much as possible. But almost the relationships gap between father and son are appeared, seeming to be their different tuneless personalities and divergent expressions as avoidable consequences.

Father-son Relationships

Every father in the world tends to force his son to follow traditions.  Obviously, parents should play a positive, vital role in their son’s life and prevent him from some of the black eyes that he might get outside.   The old saying, “Like father like son” is extremely pertinent to father-son relationships.  However, the interesting thing in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is that the father-son relationships are the same, but they also are different.

Chapters from “The Panama Hotel (1986)” to “Marty’s Girl (1986)” illustrate that the soul of HSBC is the father-son relationship between Henry and his father and between Henry and Marty (Henry’s son). We are able to recognize easily how different their relationships are. Henry’s father wanted his son to follow the Chinese’s heritage, but by contrast, Henry seemed not to care whether Marty followed it or not.  Evidence from page 294 shows that Henry’s father went along with Chinese’s tradition because “he was 100% Chinese and fluent.”  Ironically, his father prohibited Henry from speaking the Chinese language, “No more, only speak you American.” Henry’s father even forced him to wear a button, saying “I am Chinese” to make sure that Henry would not be mistaken for Japanese. And furthermore, “This is his dream, he worked and saved for years to give it for you. To do this for you, so you can know where you came from.” (p. 238).

In The Kite Runner, a similar father-son relationship clearly illustrates the gaps between Baba and Amir (Baba’s son).  The expression “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” reflects many father-son relationships, but it is not for this case. Baba was not there for Amir because he didn’t understand, didn’t admire Amir’s interest in books that its weren’t similar to Baba own and even didn’t impress him that “He’s always buried in those books or shuffling around the house like he’s lost in some dream…I wasn’t like that.’ Baba sounded frustrated, almost angry” (p.23). Ironically, Baba spent little time to develop Amir’s thoughts, but Baba still wanted his son as his clone to carry on his name, his business and his machismo. It takes the lead to an emotionally distant between their relationships, because Baba felt that there was no connection between them, yelling, “If I hadn’t seen the doctor pull him out of my wife with my own eyes, I’d never believe he’s my son” (p. 25). It can be said that Baba didn’t sympathy for his son’s tough situation that his mom passed away during his own birth and lacked his father’s relationship as Baba. Amazingly, Amir not only didn’t against his father but also tried to get closer to him through some different ways and followed Baba’s footsteps, “ He signed me up for soccer teams to stir the same passion in me. But I was pathetic, a blundering liability to my own team, always in the way of an opportune pass or unwittingly blocking an open lane. I shambled about the field on scraggy legs, squalled for passes that never came my way.” (p. 21).