By Elizabeth Jennings
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Summary of Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
The poem is about the agony of a father where he rants about the unsettling relationship with his son who is now a grown-up. He shares that although they had lived together in the same house for years, he doesn’t understand him. He doesn’t know anything about him and even if he tried to build up a relationship with him like the one when he was a small child, he was in vain.
He further says that even if his son looks like him, yet he doesn’t know what he loves. He acknowledges the communication gap and lack of understanding between them and they speak like strangers. His son is in a different place which he cannot access due to the increasing gap. There is silence between them. He is ready to forgive his prodigal son. He wants to accept him back at the house, the one which he has always known. He doesn’t want his son to move around the world. He is longing to love him.
The son finally speaks up and shares what he feels. He is at a stage where he cannot understand himself. He feels grief about the growing distance between them and he is angry due to the grief and sadness. They put out an empty hand towards each other but none of them holds it. They want to forgive each other yet couldn’t find a solution to the problem.
Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
Question-Answers of Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
Question 1:
Does the poem talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal?
Answer
The poem ‘Father to Son’ talks about a fairly universal experience. When a child is growing up, the father is usually busy with his work and is not able to take out time for his child. When the father grows older and has free time, his son gets involved in his life and has no time for his old father. This cycle is universal.Generation gap and lack of communication between parents and children are quite common these days.
Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
Question 2:
How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?
Answer
The father is helpless in the sense that he and his son, both live in the same house but still are miles apart. They are like strangers, and no one understands each other. The father thinks that all his education and nurturing has been wasted. He shows his inability to understand his son. The father always wanted his son to change and live the way he wants, but it is not possible as the son has his own world.
Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
Question 3:
Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between father and son.
Answer
Phrases/lines that indicate distance between the father and the son are :
- I do not understand this child.
- I know / Nothing of him.
- We speak like strangers.
- There’s no sign / Of understanding in the air.
- Silence surrounds us.
Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
Question 4:
Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
Answer
No, the poem does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme.
Class 11 English Ch-5 Father to Son
