Posted by JLabaree on March 21, 2006 at 15:54:01 from 71.254.99.80 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Re: Fathers and Sons (was: A favourite chapter?) posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on March 21, 2006 at 14:24:53:
Or perhaps perfect in their absence.
Yes, the absence of parents, and particularly fathers, is an interesting commonality to much great children's literature. In Ransome, it may be partly due to the "native factor" - parents, and adults in general, tend to stifle imagination and creativity rather than incite it. An exception, of course, is Captain Flint, but then he behaves more like a kid than many kids and seems not to have any obligations to tie him, or his imagination, down. He is at his most native, indeed, when his book is tying him down and he gets rather grumpy about it. Grown-ups are okay for meeting basic needs, such as milk or tents or repairing smashed-up boats. The most motivational grown-ups in the SA series are either fictional (Crusoe, P. Duck, etc.) or near-legendary (Rasmussen).
Perhaps fathers, with their obsession on making money, discipline, and accomplishment, are viewed too much as an impediment. Being a father myself, I can see how this would happen, strive against it though I might. Perceptions would only exacerbate things – many of us may feel the need to forgo certain fun things in order to provide and/or pursue a career. That might lead to the assumption that we’re doing that because we want to rather when in fact we’d much rather be out sailing, camping, hiking, or exploring.
Perhaps, too, we fathers tend to over-teach, telling our kids how to do stuff rather than letting them figure it out for themselves. Cmdr Walker is to be commended his famous telegram, but he would have been a stiff indeed if he didn’t let his kids camp on Wildcat even though he was miles away and unable to provide any kind of alternative. A good teacher, of course, steps out of the way after having conveyed the essential tools. That’s a hard skill to learn, however, and the temptation is to grab the tiller rather than let the sail luff. What a downer for the kid trying to learn how to sail. I’m building a small pram just so my child can learn to sail on her own rather than needing a companion in our family’s larger boat.
- Jonathan