How Does the Narrator in "Follower" Feel About His Father?

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What does he feel about his father and how does he portray this? The narrator in the poem ‘Follower’ obviously looked up to his father and he was his role model, as he refers to him as an ‘expert’ at what he did and by making it seem as if he could do anything without much effort. For example, the narrator claims that his father he directed the horses to map the furrow with a single ‘pluck’ of the reins. The word ‘pluck’ makes it seem as if the person put minimal effort into the action and did it very easily without a second thought. This gives us the impression that the narrator feels like his father is very strong and experienced at his job. This is stressed by the fact that a lot of positive adjectives about his father’s body are used. An example is that he describes his shadow as ‘broad’ and his shoulders as ‘globed’, which both give us the feeling that he has a very big build and is very strong. We perhaps get the feeling that the father is amazing at what he does due to the fact that the narrator describes what he used to be like and then what his father used to be like. It’s as if he is saying that he was useless and always relied on his dad, whereas his father was doing a great deal of work while maintaining his role of a father. For example, “I stumbled in his hobnailed wake…sometimes he rode me on his back, dipping and rising to his plod.” The word ‘plod’ makes it seem as if the father is tired, and even though he may be struggling, he still carries his son on his shoulders, regardless of how he himself feels. The poet shows us that the narrator strives to be exactly like his father when he’s older. This is made obvious because he says that he wanted to ‘grow up and plough’, just like his father did. After following his dad around all the time, and seeing what he does, he decides that he wants to be like him when he’s older as it has

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