My Son The Fanatic Point Of View
Reconciliation inside a family
In Raymond Carver’s short story “Elephant”, the narrator accepts the family members’ flaws and wishes them the best of their lives. This process is called reconciliation. In contrast, Hanif Kureishi’s story “My Son the Fanatic” develops through the conflict between a father and his son. The story focuses on the relationship between them, it’s pretty clear to see a relationship which gradually worsens and is broken down bit by bit. Reconciliation is the constituting cell of a society, and the support source of an individual. However, inside a family, different family members have different personalities and every family member has his/her own narrative. Based on a person’s self-definition, and the understanding …show more content…
In Carver’s another story “A small, good thing”, reflects the importance of reconciliation is related to a family. The narratives can be dramatically different among family members under the same roof. The core notion of reconciliation, according to Susan Dwyer, “is that of bringing apparently incompatible descriptions of events into narrative equilibrium.” Reconciliation is the act of bringing back harmony to the endangered relationships, accepting the coexistence, and pushing the family to carry on with mutual understanding. This essay proposes several questions while exploring the reconciliation theme inside a family dwelling. From Hanif Kureishi’s story “My Son the Fanatic”, Raymond Carver’s story “Elephant” and his another story “A small, good thing”, those stories give examples to illustrate the points below. Why reconciliation is needed? What is the basis of reconciliation? What …show more content…
According to Susan Dwyer, to achieve reconciliation, “the regulative ideals are not exactly truth and logical consistency. Rather, they have to do with understanding, intelligibility, and coherence.” (88) I think the basis beneath all is love. Love can transcendent the misunderstandings and can bring family together. There is a Chinese ancient poem illustrating the brothers in crisis. The younger brother cried out: "We were originally grown from the same root; why should we hound each other to death with such impatience?"
“Grown from the same root” suggests the source of the unconditional love. Inside a family, all the members are connected with the blood lineage; even though they see the world differently and they live lives differently, there is still a room for the growth of trust and confidence among family members, the unconditional hope that everyone will live the best life that one can achieve, and arouse the deepest sympathy to reconciliation in understanding. This point can be illustrated in Raymond Carver’s essay “Elephant”.
In the story, “I” am implicated into the unlimited money requests from family members: the brother, the mother, the daughter, the son, and the ex wife. Each of the family members
In Raymond Carver’s short story “Elephant”, the narrator accepts the family members’ flaws and wishes them the best of their lives. This process is called reconciliation. In contrast, Hanif Kureishi’s story “My Son the Fanatic” develops through the conflict between a father and his son. The story focuses on the relationship between them, it’s pretty clear to see a relationship which gradually worsens and is broken down bit by bit. Reconciliation is the constituting cell of a society, and the support source of an individual. However, inside a family, different family members have different personalities and every family member has his/her own narrative. Based on a person’s self-definition, and the understanding …show more content…
In Carver’s another story “A small, good thing”, reflects the importance of reconciliation is related to a family. The narratives can be dramatically different among family members under the same roof. The core notion of reconciliation, according to Susan Dwyer, “is that of bringing apparently incompatible descriptions of events into narrative equilibrium.” Reconciliation is the act of bringing back harmony to the endangered relationships, accepting the coexistence, and pushing the family to carry on with mutual understanding. This essay proposes several questions while exploring the reconciliation theme inside a family dwelling. From Hanif Kureishi’s story “My Son the Fanatic”, Raymond Carver’s story “Elephant” and his another story “A small, good thing”, those stories give examples to illustrate the points below. Why reconciliation is needed? What is the basis of reconciliation? What …show more content…
According to Susan Dwyer, to achieve reconciliation, “the regulative ideals are not exactly truth and logical consistency. Rather, they have to do with understanding, intelligibility, and coherence.” (88) I think the basis beneath all is love. Love can transcendent the misunderstandings and can bring family together. There is a Chinese ancient poem illustrating the brothers in crisis. The younger brother cried out: "We were originally grown from the same root; why should we hound each other to death with such impatience?"
“Grown from the same root” suggests the source of the unconditional love. Inside a family, all the members are connected with the blood lineage; even though they see the world differently and they live lives differently, there is still a room for the growth of trust and confidence among family members, the unconditional hope that everyone will live the best life that one can achieve, and arouse the deepest sympathy to reconciliation in understanding. This point can be illustrated in Raymond Carver’s essay “Elephant”.
In the story, “I” am implicated into the unlimited money requests from family members: the brother, the mother, the daughter, the son, and the ex wife. Each of the family members