Question 1:

What sort of father-son relationship has been

depicted in the poem 'Father to Son?
Answer:
The poem depicts a father-son relationship which
exists in name only. The two have been living
together in the same house for years. Even then the
father does not understand his son. He confesses
that he knows nothing of his son. The bond of
affection between them lie broken. They have
become formal just like strangers. Although the son
resembles his father physically, yet he had his own
vision,dreams and aspiration. He is not home bound
and is not afraid to venture forth. The protective
father is willing to forgive him for incurring loss of
materialwealth provided he returns home.The
painful experience of lack of communication fills the
father with utter helplessness, anger and grief. His
that he knows nothing of his son. The bond of
affection between them lie broken. They have
become formal just like strangers. Although the
resembles his father physically,yet he had his own
vision, dreams and aspiration. He is not home bound
and is not afraid to venture forth. The protective
father is willing to forgive him for incurring loss of
material wealth provided he returns home. The
painful experience of lack of communication fills the
father with utter helplessness, anger and grief. His
efforts to restore the relationship fail as there is no
response from the other side.
Question 2:
How far has the poet succeeded in transforming a
purely personal matter to a universal experience
prevalent in modern times?
Answer:
The poem begins on an autobiographical note. The
speaker i.e., the father recounts his own experience.
He talks about the non-functional father-son
relationship. He neither understands his son nor
knows anything about him. In spite of living in the
same house, the distance between father and son
has increased. There is lack of communication
between them. They either talk like strangers or
silence surrounds them. The father is unable to share
what the son prefers to do. The distance has reached
to sorrowful limit. Even then the father is willing to
shape a new love and build up a fresh relationship.
His grief takes the form of anger and they fail to
His grief takes the form of anger and they fail to
reach any compromise.
This maladjustment or growing break-up of
relationships is typical of the modem materialistic
age.
 lldl experience or is Itittairly universal?
Ans: The poem is about a singularly persona
event. However, we can also term it pretty
general because this type of disagreement
occurs frequently in many households. It's also
known as the generation gap, which occurs
when parents are overprotective of their children
and want to keep them from makingmistakes,
while children perceive their ideals to be
oppressive.
2. How is the father's helple
in the poem?
emotional turmoil that the parent goes
Ans: The
emphasizes his helplessness. He is
through
of the isSue and wants to fix it, but he is
aware
unable to do so. He bemoans the fact that his
son has turned into a stranger to him. He regrets
the lack of a deep emotional tie and proper
communication with his estranged son, an
wishes to begin anew nd repair their
relationship.
4. Does the poem have a consistent rhyme
scheme?

Ans: No, there isn't a regular rhyme scheme in

the poem.The rhyme system ab ba ba is used in
the first two stanzas, however, the third and
fourth stanzas differ slightly. The abc aba
scheme is used in the third stanza, while the
abbcb scheme is used in the fourth.
1. Discuss How a Father's Helplessness is
Brought Forward in the Poem

Ans: In this poem by Elizabeth Jennings, where

the poet has come up and open about the
anguish of a father and son relationship in this
lovely piece of artwork. The theme revolves
around the poor relationship with his son that is
shared by his father. Overall, the poem has done
a great job in bringing out the helplessness of a
father through severalexisting circumstances.
For the basic relationship that a father and sor
relationship is always considered to be friendly
and very casual and a father is also considered
to be the best friend and advisor to his son.
However, in this poem, the poem does not
resonate to the bond of affinity or relationship
between the duo. Throughout the poem,
Jennings has revealed how the father and son
are not even in speaking terms, although they
have been sharing the same roof. The
helplessness of the father is also brought
across in instances that show how the father
can't share what his son loves.
 Across the entire poem, we can form an idea of
how the son shares quite a resemblance with
his father in terms of his appearance but fails to
acknowledge his likes in particular. However, we
Come to know that the father also
acknowledges the gap in between their
relationship and they also communicate like
otal strangers. The father in the poem also
elieves that his son is at a different place
-here his father won't feel the right to have
Ccess due to their not so gOod bond.