Harmonium and Nettles Harmonium and Nettles both highlight the theme of memory. As they both are looking back over past memories that are painful, the poems feature the feelings of being helpless in stopping the hurt that was caused. The writer in Harmonium feels remorse for the things he hadn’t said to his father as Armitage states “then mouth in reply some shallow sorry phrase or word too starved of breath to make itself heard”. The writer in Nettles is protective of the recurring threat to his child that he can’t destroy. “rain had called up tall recruits behind the shed,” this quote shows the father cannot destroy them .They differ in the way they felt powerless however as in Nettles the father is feeling powerless because of a physical threat whereas in Harmonium it is an emotional threat of the inevibility of death and unspoken feelings that makes the writer feel powerless.
Whereas Sonny had an addictive personality, his brother had his own internal struggles with understanding. When the brother learns of Sonny getting arrested for heroin, he immediately reflected on how life was when he was a boy which was very similar for the boys he taught in his algebra class, “Children growing up with a
During the course of the novel of ‘Deadly Unna?’ the readers are exposed to the negativity between the father and his son. This affects Blacky in way that his self-esteem is almost non-existent, and the negativity is prominent throughout the novel. Examples of the neglect shown by his father are that of the time when Bob refers to Blacky as a ‘gutless wonder’, and the journey we take through the story of Blacky’s deteriorating respect for him. The ‘gutless wonder’ incident was a influential part of the novel, as Blacky realises that his Dad isn’t one to take advice of someone he feels is inferior than him, thus saying, ‘My own son, a gutless wonder. A gutless fucking wonder!’ When Blacky explains to his father about the storm, Bob insults him rather than swallow his pride and takes his son’s advice on board.
As the film progresses viewers gradually uncover and understand the complex nature of their relationship. Initially, Charlie is portrayed as the older sibling who protects his ‘kid brother’ from Johnny Friendly. This is clearly observed in the opening bar scene after Joey Doyle’s murder. When Terry shows signs of weakness and hesitation about the nights proceeds in front of Johnny, Charlie artfully places a hand on Terry’s wrist a subtle signal to be quite - a sign he is ‘looking out’ for Terry. Similarly, Terry displays a deep loyalty throughout the entire film, by refusing to ‘rat’ on Johnny despite his guilty conscience simply because he does not want to ‘put the finger on [his] own brother’.
Music was the key to the communication between the brothers. In the beginning, the narrator reads the newspaper where it mentions about his brother going to jail for drugs. He starts to think about Sonny and compares him to his students at the school. “…Every one of them for all I knew, be popping off needles every time they went to the head. Maybe it did more for them than algebra could” (Baldwin, 79).
The narrator makes this observation about Sonny when he sees him after he’s released from prison. Prison, for Sonny, was a hellish experience, as was his addiction to heroin. Both experiences have altered Sonny, but he remains, at heart, the same person he’s always been. The narrator notes, somewhat mournfully, that he never actually knew his baby brother, even though he can see traces of him buried beneath the darkness of prison life and drug addiction. It’s a painful realization, one that he is forced to confront now that Sonny has become, to some degree, his responsibility.
This is seldom the case, because sometimes one must let go of the people one loves for a little while. Pete goes on to tell his brother, “you just can’t go. You’re too little, in the first place, and in the second place ----”(Faulkner 84). The pause at the end of this quote shows a major complexity to their brotherhood that it is not the simple fact that Pete’s younger brother is way too young to go, and also that Pete doesn’t want him in harm’s way. He does not want to entertain that as a possibility even thus showing a deep love for his younger brother.
There is an internal and external conflict within Sonny and Baldwin. The internal conflict is self doubt within Sonny, questioning his own ability to succeed in the music industry. The external conflict as well as the climax of the story is for Sonny and his brother to be able to understand one another, so they both can succeed in life together. Flashback as well plays an extremely pertinent role in this story. When a flashback occurs, the true compassion and understanding of the brothers rekindle and surface; enabling the both of them to become a family again.
When Hally was young his father “was dead drunk on the floor of the Central Hotel Bar” and Sam helped Hally bring him home. Hally’s father being him left a big empty space in Hally’s heart of a father figure missing and Sam slowly un knowingly started to heal and close the small hole. Sam would always be there for him and with Hally being always disappointed and sad he knew that no matter what Sam would find a way to heal Hally, like with the kite scene where he made him feel hope and
Amir was in the corner of the alley, not having enough courage to stand up for his friend that is soon brutally abused. From then on, he lived with his guilt for many years. His shame is complicated by his own realization that he partly doesn’t help his friend, precisely because he is jealous of him, as well as being a coward. Soon his own shame drives him nearly crazy and in desire to end his pain, he sets Hassan and his father up for a shame so great they have to leave the home, which will seemingly free Amir of his