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Father To Son - 11

Class 11th

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ehsanmarouftiploo
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55 views4 pages

Father To Son - 11

Class 11th

Uploaded by

ehsanmarouftiploo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Class:11th

Subject: English

Topic: Father to Son

Qno1:Does the poem talk of ail exclusively personal experience or is


it fairly universal?

Answer:

The poem is autobiographical in nature and describes the relationship


between a

Father and his son. Beginning on an exclusively personal experience, the


poem rises to a fairly universal phenomenon—the growing generation gap
and lack of communication.

Q 2:How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem?

Answer:

The father’s helplessness is brought about by the existing circumstances.


Usually a father is the best friend and advisor of the son. However, there is
no bond of affinity or relationship between the two. It seems that the two are
not on speaking terms even while living under the same roof. The father feels
helpless that he can’t share what his son loves.

Qno3:Identify the phrases and lines that indicate distance between


father and son.

Answer:

The phrases/lines indicating distance between father and son are:

“I don’t understand this child.”

“I know nothing of him.”

“We speak like strangers, there’s no sign

Of understanding in the air.”

“..What he loves I cannot share.”

“Silence surrounds us.”

“…see him make and move His world.”


Q4:Does the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?

Answer:

No, the poem does not have a consistent rhyme scheme. The first two
stanzas have the rhyme-scheme ab ba ba whereas the third and fourth have
a slight alteration. The third stanza has abc aba whereas the fourth one has
abbcb scheme.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1:What does the speaker say about father-son relationship?

Answer:

Actually, the father-son relationship is non-functional. The father does not


understand the aspirations, longings or cravings of the son. They speak like
strangers. Their exchanges, if any, are just formal. Otherwise, silence
surrounds them.

Q2:What do you think is responsible for the distance between father


and son?

Answer:

The lack of understanding on the part of the older generation (here, father) is
the root of the problem. The father wants the young man to stick to home
turf. The son, now a young man, seeks fresh avenues and lives in a world of
his own. The father finds it hard to adjust to the growing changes.

Q4:Why, do you think, does the father appear so helpless?

Answer:

The father has been unable to understand what his son loves to do. He is not
in a position to advise him as there is hardly any intimacy between them.
They speak like strangers, otherwise there is silence around them. The son
has his own dreams and plans which her does not appreciate.

Q5:How can you infer that the father wishes his son to remain at
home with him?

Answer:

The father finds the son’s interests quite different. He is home bound,
whereas the son is on the look out for fresh avenues. He aspires for a world
of his own. The father wants him to return home even if he undergoes losses
by his extravagant ventures. He is willing to make up with him if he agrees to
live with him.

B. Long Answer Type Questions

Q1: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 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.

Q2: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 reach any compromise.

This maladjustment or growing break-up of relationships is typical of the


modem materialistic age.

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