Short Note On Son's Character In 'the Son's Veto' Essay

The son’s character is refined by the high class of society he is involved in. He is proud, arrogant and believes himself to possess the qualities that were demanded in a gentleman’s society. This is obvious in him even as a young boy, in the way he carries himself- with all the polish of a public school student. He is fastidious, impatient and sometimes very unfeeling; this is evident in the way he behaves towards his mother. He is annoyed at the mistakes she makes and insists that she corrects herself, and says so in a harsh way. Thus we can also say that he is insistent. He oversteps the guidelines of behaviour towards elders, especially when it concerns one of his parents, through this. So he is rude and overbearing.   As the story progresses, we find that he is ripped away from basic human qualities- he has no feelings for the underprivileged, or the so-called low class of society, other than contempt and disrespect and down to earth prejudices. His uncaring thoughts are apparent in his words as he talks of his mother’s background. Although he is half country-boy, he tries to cover up the fact that he is one. He cherishes the belief that he is a gentleman with every ounce of his being. He is ashamed of his mother’s background and claims that it has already done enough damage to him. He demands from his mother the same qualities he fills himself with. He dominates her emotionally and hurts her ever so badly with his insensitive orders. We find him devoid of affection for her and he is ever so shameful about her lack of lady-ship, her incorrect way of grammar and speech and even the little mistakes she makes now and then. He is very obstinate, as he sticks firmly to his decisions and never moves away from them, as we can see till the end of the story. Even then he doesn’t regret his decision of not letting his mother marry Sam. He is desperate to carry his culture and ambience unscathed and shows that he would do anything to protect it. The episode where he takes...