Father to Son Extra Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why is the father unhappy with his son?

Ans. The father is unhappy with his son as there is no interaction between the two. They don’t understand each other and are like strangers. Though they live under the same roof, yet they have nothing common between them. Their thinking and outlook are totally different. So they remain separated from each other. So, the father is deeply troubled.

Q2. What does the father long for?

Ans. The father is much more tense and upset. He fails to see where he made a mistake. He wants to make peace with his son and keep him in the same house. He is willing to forget and forgive the boy. He is only waiting for an excuse.

Q3. Can you suggest a solution to the widening gap between father and son?

Ans. The tussle between the aged and the youth is very old and universal. Elders see young ones as their property and try to impose their will on them. As a result the son revolts. The father must try to understand and respect the demands of the son. Not rod but the language of love can bridge the gap and avert the clash.

Q4. Who do you sympathize with—the father or the son?

Ans. Being a youngster, I also often revolt against the authoritarian attitude of elders. They have ego problem. They demand total obedience from young ones. I know that the relationship between father and son is strong yet delicate as well. I would humbly advise grown-ups to be a bit more flexible and liberal in their attitude. In bending, they both will win.

Q5. How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?

Ans. The father is not only sad but also angry. But he feels helpless. He is ready to patch up with the son, forgive him and bring him back home at any cost. He wonders why they have now become strangers. He is ready to overlook his son’s wasteful habits. He is extending his empty hand to get an excuse to welcome the boy into his old home. But the son looks adamant. Ego problem persists.

Q6. Why is the father unable to understand his son in Father to Son”?

Ans. The father is unable to understand his son due to generation gap. It is a psychological and emotional gap between parents or elder people and the young ones. This creates misunderstanding and lack of attachment between the parents and children. The success lies in how effectively the parents can avoid the generation gap or ignore difference with their children.

Q7. ‘I would have him prodigal’. What does the father mean by this?      

Ans. Prodigal means wastefully extravagant. In the Bible there is a story, where a father inherits property and gives it to his sons. The younger son wastes a lot but returns to his father’s home. His father forgives him and takes him back home. Here in the poem the father is ready to accept his prodigal son and he may start living with him under the same roof.

Q8. What does the poet mean by `silence surrounds us?

Ans. The father is troubled because there is no interaction between them. Though they have been living under the same roof for years but they do not understand each other and live like strangers. Their outlook and temperament are different. They have a communication gap along with the generation gap. So both are unhappy and want to come closer but they can’t help it.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why in your view has a sense of distance arrived in the modern youth?

Ans. The present era has lost all its ancient moral, ethical, social and cultural values. The deep sense of joint family system is diminishing to a large extent. The newly married couple wants to lead a life to its own freedom duly away from the parents. They think that the joint family or parents living with them will put a restraint on their freedom.

They fail to understand the real worth of their parents and long to have a deeper distance from them. The media and the western civilization have surrounded their ideology. They do not care for the civility in any sense. Thus the distance is taking its deep root among the youths. They do not realize their duties for the old aged parents rather they consider it an extra burden upon them. Thus a sense of distance has become in vogue among the modern youths.

Q2. The poem reflects the realities of the modern times. The aged persons face problems and there is no end to it. How do you feel?

Ans. The breaking-up of the joint family system and the change in our value system have created serious problems for the aged persons. They are denied physical, moral, financial and emotional support because their children are grossly involved in their own affairs. A feeling that they are unwanted persons has gripped the aged. The attitude towards the aged is marked by hatred, disregard, apathy and insults. This drowns them in the fathomless chasm of depression. Above all, elderly persons having no source of income are the worst sufferers. Growing materialism is the main culprit. Blood is no longer thicker than water. An elderly person who stands between the heirs and his wealth becomes a thorn in their flesh. Many start torturing the aged to death.

The aged persons require nothing but love, affection and respect. So the children must change their attitude. They must not neglect the very source of their existence. Accept the aged happily and see the blessings of God showering in rapid succession.